Dreams Turn into Nightmares 2
by raimutt
Summary: Rai's once again in the reality of Code Geass, and this time, with the help of some friends, he's going to find a way to change everything. Sequal to DTN.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Welcome to Dreams Turn into Nightmares 2! If you haven't read the first part, I'd suggest you do, but you don't have to if you don't want to.**

**Thanks to Saya and Hagi together 4 ever, Kiseki no Tenshi, cloveasmodeus, Bright Blade 7, xXxSapphireJewelxXx, Frieda, and CrAzYFaNgUrL01. **

Rai Bakura howled out a battle cry as he tackled his friend Scott to the ground. Scott Daemon was laughing so hard that at times he wasn't actually making any sound.

"Scott you pain in my ass, why'd you tell them that I was in two freaking 'love triangles'? Last time I checked, I'm in _zero_!" Rai snarled, looking ready to strangle the boy underneath him.

"Rai! Scott!" James yelled to them. The panicky tone of his voice made both boys stop and look behind them.

The triplet brothers, Edward, Richard, and James, ran up to them. James was holding a poster or something. The three of them looked a little bit freaked. Rai got off of Scott and the two of them stood up. The triplets quickly pushed Rai and Scott into an alleyway, looking around as if to make sure no one saw them.

"What's wrong?" Rai asked, frowning at the mirroring expressions on the three brothers' faces.

"Scott didn't join the Black Knights, right?" Richard asked. Rai and Scott both nodded.

"Then why is he on this wanted poster?" James asked, holding the poster up.

Scott's picture winked at them, it looked like it had been taken at a concert. In big red letters it said 'WANTED' at the bottom of the poster.

Rai looked at Scott, and saw that…

Scott was _happy?_

"How cool is that!" Scott cheered. The others looked at him as if he were insane. "I'm a 'wanted man'-an outlaw!"

"That's not a _good_ thing, Scott!" James told him. For once the blonde boy's voice was almost louder than at normal taking volume for normal people. There was a reason why everyone called James 'The Quiet Devil' Avery.

"Yeah stupid, if you're a criminal you can't be seen wandering around the settlement!" Richard pointed out. The obsidian haired triplet was known back home as Richard 'The Scheming Devil' Avery, because he was always up to something.

"An' if we get seen talkin' to ya, we could be consider'd conspirators with da Black Knights." Edward said. The triplet with green hair (Which everyone _thinks_ is dyed, but no one can ever remember if they've seen it any other color) was called Edward 'The Stone Devil' back at Lucifer's Academy because no one could ever tell was he was thinking since he always had a neutral look on his face…that and there were many people who believed he was a 'Stoner', but were never brave enough to say that to Edward to his face.

Together they were known as 'The Akuma Trio', which is where Rai had gotten the idea for his Black Knight persona 'Akuma'.

Together, 'The Akuma Trio', glared (Well, as close to glare as Edward got) at Scott in annoyance.

"They're right, Scott." Rai said. "This is a big problem. We can't let anybody see you."

Scott pouted at that.

"Well that sounds like no fun~" Scott complained.

"Why do the English even think you're a Black Knight anyway?" Richard asked, frowning in thought. It was an inside joke at Lucifer's that Richard always frowned when thinking because it was so very difficult for him…the people who said that would usually get their asses handed to them by Richard, who was a bit (understatement) of a violent person.

"It's the 'Britannians', Richard." Rai corrected. Richard waved it off as unimportant.

Scott looked thoughtful for a moment before answering.

"I think that's it's because after I figured out how to get back home, I immediately went and found Rai…and at the time Rai was disguised as a Black Knight. So the fact that I was there and took Rai away and how I was also at the stadium just before everything went to hell-." Scott guessed.

"Would make just about anyone come to the conclusion that you were aiding the Black Knights." Rai finished for Scott with a sigh. Scott nodded. James thought of something at that moment.

"Wait, if both times Scott was seen with the Black Knight was with Rai dressed up as a Black Knight…and Scott and Rai were both seen together at the festival…" James voiced his thoughts. Rai snorted.

"If only the people around here were that observant. There are very few people who would put two and two together and figure out that I'm 'Akuma the Hellhound'." Rai scoffed. Richard grinned at the fake name, knowing where Rai got it.

"It's going to be fun showing these people what _real_ devils can do!" Richard snickered.

"'Sides, people could think that even if Rai and 'Akuma' look alike, that it's just a coincidence." Edward said, ruffling his already messy hair.

"The only person so far that's figured out I was 'Akuma' was Milly, but that's because she had spent a while trying to hunt me down and make me join a club…how she didn't figure out that Lelouch was Zero and that Kallen was a Black Knight is something I'm confused by." Rai admitted. "Milly's smart enough to plan out things that even take Lelouch off guard, and she's one of the most observant people in the entire series."

"I guess that's just how some shows are." James said with a shrug.

"So what's da plan?" Edward asked. Everyone looked at Richard, since that was his field of expertise…when he wasn't being overly violent about something.

Richard crossed his arms and leaned against a building. His forehead wrinkled as he contemplated what to do.

"Rai, where are we in the series right now?" Richard asked. Rai looked around, trying to remember anything of use.

"We're probably right at the beginning of 'R2', which is why everything's so peaceful-a good chunk of people have had their memories altered by the Emperor, at least everyone at Ashford Academy. I recall going past one of those huge television screens that show announcements from the local government, and since it appears Nunnally isn't Viceroy yet…We are either right before or right after Lelouch regains his memories (which were also altered by his dipshit father the Emperor.)." Rai summarized. Richard frowned.

"If the Emperor has the ability to mess with people's memories, then he probably knows about you, Rai, which makes me wonder why he, or that Milly girl for that matter, hasn't told anyone that you're a Black Knight." Richard said.

"Milly's good at keeping secrets, after all she knew that Lelouch and Nunnally are royalty but didn't breathe a word of it to anyone. As for the Emperor, I think he just doesn't care. I'm just some boy who was hanging out with his son at one point. The most the Emperor would do is erase everyone's memories of me, but I don't see him even bother to do that." Rai said. Richard continued to frown.

"I'd think he would erase everyone's memories of you, since you 'disappeared' along with Scott, but then again, Scott's wanted (the Emperor has nothing to do with that I'm sure) so he might have altered people's memories to make them think you've transferred or died. We won't know exactly what the Emperor's done concerning you until we run into someone from Ash Fort Academy." Richard decided. "Considering everything you and Scott have told me, most likely no one has put together that you and 'Akuma' disappear at the same time and therefore could be the same person. However this time around, I think it'd be best if you personally don't act as 'Akuma' that way anyone who does figure it out will then believe they was wrong all along when they see you and 'Akuma' were at two different places at once."

"Wouldn't someone notice if 'Akuma' looked a little different?" James asked. Rai shook his head.

"There's a disguise I've seen used in the series that can make you look like someone else. I saw the Ninja Maid use it to pretend to be Lelouch at certain times." Rai explained.

"So who will act as 'Akuma' instead of Rai?" Scott asked. Everyone _looked_ at him. "Hey!" Scott yelled. "Why me?"

"Ya're already an 'outlaw' as ya put it, anyway." Edward reminded Scott. "Ya'd be perfect for it."

Scott looked as if he wanted to argue.

"We better get out of this alley and find some place to stay." Rai said. "Law enforcement tends to be suspicious when a group of teenagers are hanging around in dark alleyways." The other boys agreed. Scott pulled a hat out of his bag (one that Rai had only just noticed he was carrying) and a pair of sunglasses.

Just as they stepped out of the alley, Rai saw Lelouch the side-car of a motorcycle drive pass them.

Rai and Lelouch made eye contact, both of them looking at each other in surprise.

"Rolo, stop!" Lelouch ordered the person driving the motorcycle. The boy driving stopped so quickly that Rai was worried he would cause an accident. The moment the motorcycle was no longer moving; Lelouch hopped out and ran to Rai and the others. "Rai? Is that you?" Lelouch asked as he looked absolutely shocked to see Rai. "Where have you been?"

Rai wasn't sure how to answer that question. It looked as if the Emperor did not do anything when it came to memories of Rai, but Rai didn't want to screw up if he was wrong…

"Oh he just went back to the Homeland for a bit." Richard answered for Rai, lying easily. "Everyone back home was so worried about all the fighting that was going on that we kind of kidnapped him." Richard said this with a smile.

"Only you would word it like that." James muttered to his brother with a sigh.

"I insisted on coming back, but since these guys were still worried that more fighting may break out, they decided to tag along." Rai lied.

"Brother, you know these people?" The boy Lelouch called Rolo asked. He had short light brown hair, and purple eyes that were a few shades lighter than Lelouch's.

Rai remembered Rolo very well. Rolo was, like Schneizel, a character that made Rai a bit uneasy. The look Rolo was giving him at the moment was amplifying that feeling tenfold.

"Rolo, you know Rai." Lelouch reminded Rolo. Rai guess by how Lelouch was acting that he hadn't regained his memories just yet. "He's goes…well he went to Ashford with us, remember? He was the Student Council." Lelouch then turned to Rai again. "Are you going to go to Ashford again?"

"Ashford?" Richard repeated. "I thought it was Ash Fort." His brothers, along with Rai and Scott, rolled their eyes.

"Sorry, he's not very good with names." James apologized. Lelouch didn't seem to have heard them, and he was still staring at Rai.

_I wonder what Lelouch remembers about me…especially since he's acting so strange…_ Rai kind of worried about it. "Yeah, if I can I'm planning to go to Ashford again." Rai told Lelouch.

Lelouch looked oddly relieved at that, while Rolo _did not_ look pleased.

"Well…I guess I'll see you later then." Lelouch said, smiling at Rai. Now, Rai was used to Lelouch's smiles meaning very bad things-but the honesty of the one Lelouch was giving Rai confused him.

"Uh, yeah, see you…" Rai responded. Lelouch and Rolo walked back to their motorcycle and rode off.

There was an awkward silence for several moments afterward. Scott took a breath, as if about to say something. "Shut up!" Rai ordered everyone, looking both annoyed and perplexed. "He's just acting…funny…because of the Geass his father put on him. Anyone who even _alludes_ to anything will be hit. _Hard_." Rai told them.

He then turned on his heel and walked away. The others followed behind him, snickering to each other.

~Page Break~

They reached the gates Ashford Academy with no problem.

"Guys, I'm going to find somewhere to use as a hideout." Scott told the others. "I have some money I hid in an account that not even Schneizel knows about, so don't worry about that."

The others nodded.

"I think you should try to find a place that could fit all five of us. We could use it as a headquarters. Also it'd be easier than trying to sneak out of the Ashford dorms all of the time." Rai suggested. He remembered how tricky living in the dorms could get.

"Good idea. I'll find a way to contact you when I've found something." Scott said. Rai, Edward, Richard, and James went into the school grounds, while Scott quickly crossed the street and went off in a seemly random direction.

Rai was surprised how easy it was to simply walk into the main office and ask to reenroll himself and enroll his friends in school. The people in the office remember Rai, and bought the bullshit story he told them. Apparently all of Rai's possessions were put in a storage room since he had 'left so suddenly' and they weren't given an address to send all of it to.

Richard assured them as soon as everything was finalized that Rai's stuff would be taken to their new house (as soon, course, as Scott found one).

The four of them were allowed to wander the grounds for the day. Tomorrow they would have their first day of class.

"So," Richard began as they exited the main office. "It seems that-." Rai knew that he was about to say something about the Emperor, but also remembered that there were cameras everywhere all over campus.

"Hey Richard, remember back home how Derrick had 'eyes' everywhere? It really helped him know _everything we said_, didn't it?" Rai reminded Richard, hoping the boy would get the hint.

"Yeah, I swear I think he can also read minds." Richard sighed.

"I wonder if da clubs at this school are at all interestin'." Edward stated.

"Well I think you'd have fun in any of the sports teams. Maybe you should try soccer, that one's your favorite isn't it?" Rai suggested. Edward nodded.

"Do they a decent music club?" James asked shyly. He played the clarinet, the violin, and the piano. The one he was the best at was the piano. The other two instruments he was…okay at…

"There's a few of those. I'm sure you'll find one you'll like." Rai said. Rai then looked long and hard at Richard. "…Sorry Richard, there's no 'blow shit up and/or set it on fire' club."

Richard glared at him while James and Edward chuckled.

"I'm sure I'll find something." Richard grumbled. "What about you, Rai, what club are you going to join?"

Someone else answered that question for Rai, since they had just passed the open door to the Student Council's clubhouse.

"Why, the Student Council, of course." Milly said. Rai turned and smiled at her.

The moment Richard laid eyes on her he let out a low whistle…and got elbowed by both of his brothers for it.

"Long time no see, Madam Prez." Rai greeted. Suddenly a whirr of a person darted out of the club room and tackle-hugged Rai.

"Rai! You're back!" Rivalz exclaimed.

"Rai, we were so worried when you didn't come back to school!" Shirley said, coming out into the hall as well.

"S-sorry, I didn't mean to worry everyone." Rai apologized.

"Yeah, it was our fault that he 'disappeared'. We were worried that Rai might get hurt." Richard said. The Student Council members present looked at him.

"Who are you?" Milly asked, narrowing her eyes at Richard.

"I'm Richard Avery, and these two are my brothers Edward and James Avery. We're triplets." Richard explained.

"You guys certainly look like it." Rivalz commented, finally letting go of Rai.

"So, the three of you are going to go to this school?" Shirley asked, talking to the triplets. Edward, Richard, and James nodded in unison. "Are you guys going to stay at the dorms?"

"Nah, we're gonna be livin' off campus. Rai's gonna be livin' with us too." Edward told them.

"Is it just going to be the four of you?" Rivalz asked. This time Rai joined in when the triplets nodded. "That's awesome! You could throw the best parties and not worry about getting busted by your parents!"

"Why are your parents letting you live by yourselves?" Shirley asked, looking confused.

"Our dad lets us do pretty much whatever we want." Richard said. "As long as we don't end up in jail, or dead and we graduate from school, he won't stop us."

_Their dad doesn't even care if Derrick makes people 'go mysteriously missing'!_ Rai thought darkly.

"Man, I wish my parents were like that." Rivalz grumbled. Richard chuckled.

"Oh Rai," Shirley said, seeming to remember something. "Did you hear? Zero's reappeared!"

"What?" Rai asked in fake-surprise. "I thought he was dead!"

"It was just on the news." Milly told him. "Zero gave a big speech and everything."

_Looks like Lelouch has his memory back now…I wonder if he'll mention anything about how he acted when he talked to me earlier. Knowing him probably not, but it was still kind of weird._ Rai thought.

Suddenly, Rai's cell phone rang. "Hello?" Rai answered.

"Hey Rai, tell the others I found a place for us." Scott said from the other end of the line. He sounded excited. "I'll text you the address.

"Yeah okay, see you then." Rai said. He hung up. "That was your guys' cousin. He said he wants us back at the house. I think it has something to do with what rooms we want." Rai told the triplets. After Scott texted Rai the address, Rai, Richard, James, and Edward first went to the main office again and told them the address so that the office could send Rai's stuff there. Then the four of them left the school and made their way to the location.

~Page Break ~

The house Scott had found was one with four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a decent sized kitchen, a living room, a dining room, a basement, and an attic. It was a fairly average house, nothing really special to it, but it worked for what the five teens needed it for.

At the moment Rai and the others were sitting in the living room. There was no furniture yet, but Scott said he was planning on dealing with that the next day. They all sat on the floor and ate rice balls they had bought earlier.

"From the looks of it, the Emperor didn't alter anyone's memories of Rai, so they just believe exactly what we told them." Richard said.

"He would have to have altered Lelouch a bit, since a lot of Lelouch's memories of me also have to do with him being Zero." Rai said, frowning a bit. "At least now Lelouch has his memories back. Lelouch might try to talk to me about it at some point in the near future-that is unless he thinks I don't remember then most likely he's going to ignore me." Rai took a bite of his tuna-filled rice ball.

"Why do you think that?" James asked. He bit into his plain rice ball.

"The only reason why Lelouch dealt with me is because he wanted to make sure I didn't tell anyone that he's Zero. If I no longer remember that, then he wouldn't need to bother with me, and since I'm not of any real use to him in any other way, he'll just ignore me now." Rai told them.

"I'm going to have to correct you now." Scott said. Rai frowned at him now. "If Lelouch didn't give a rip about you, then wouldn't he have let you die after you were injured instead of saving your life? And let's not forget how he was so happy to see you even though _he_ didn't even remember that he was Zero." Scott pointed out.

"Lelouch is one of the most manipulative people in all of anime." Rai countered. "He could have saved my life just so that I would feel the need to one day return the favor. That's pretty much what he does to Rolo in order to get Rolo to join him instead of spy on him."

"That still doesn't explain the way he acted the very moment he saw you again." Scott argued.

Rai rolled his eyes.

"That's just you reading too much into the situation." Rai said stubbornly. "He had been basically babysitting me for so long that even without all his memory, Lelouch was mildly concerned as to what happened to me."

"Even if that were true, that would then make your theory of Lelouch only being manipulative flawed. If he had no memory of why he would need to 'babysit' you, then wouldn't he simply dismiss the feeling and ignore it?" Scott questioned. Rai didn't have an answer for that.

"Leave Rai alone, Scott, he knows Lelouch better than you do, and if Rai says you're reading too much into it chances are he's right." James said. Scott shrugged and continued eating.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks to xXxSapphireJewelxXx, CrAzYFaNgUrL01, Anubis9 lord of death, Bright Blade7, Mennis-chan, WhiteAngel128, cloveasmodeus, ZeroPanda, Frieda, Mangakitty222333, Kiseki no Tenshi, and Mark Twain II LoL.**

Rai opened his eyes slowly, feeling reluctant to actually wake up. It wasn't very comfortable sleeping on the floor of the living room with no pillow or blanket, not to mention how Richard snored loud enough to wake the dead and how Scott's foot kept in digging into Rai's side. Oddly enough, Rai vaguely noticed that the foot was gone. He assumed Scott was already up and about.

Rai heard someone clear their throat.

_I hope nobody has a cold, because I sure as hell don't want to get sick right now…_ Rai thought as he looked up at the direction of the noise he had heard.

Upon seeing a seething, murderously angry Derrick looming over him and the others, Rai closed his eyes again and rolled over to face away from the pissed off psycho.

"Guys, His Insufferable Majesty is here." Rai grumbled groggily to the others.

"How did a rock band get in the house?" Richard asked, not bothering to even open his eyes.

"That's His Infernal Majesty, moron." Edward corrected. He kicked Richard, and then rolled out of the way of Richard's retaliation kick. Rai heard footsteps from the kitchen, coming into the living room.

"Is it just me, or it all the lighting tinted red today? Oh, hi Derri-….oh shit." Scott went from sounding mildly confused to sounding afraid for his life in the space of a couple of sentences.

"Hey, we have a brother named…Derrick…" Richard was now wide awake, as was everyone else by now.

"Why is it," Derrick began, his tone of voice frighteningly calm compared to his facial expression. "That the moment I'm distracted for even a moment, you go against do something that's completely _**against my orders?**_" Even Rai cringed at the rage in Derrick's voice.

"Derrick." Rai said, cutting off Derrick's ranting. Derrick looked him as Rai stood and walked up to him. "I know your upset, but there's something I have to do here. After…" Rai hesitated. "After I'm finished with the business I have in this reality, I promise I'll go back home immediately, alright?" Rai told Derrick, actually wrapping his arms around Derrick's waist. Derrick along with the others, were honestly surprised by this. Usually Rai wanted to be as far as physically possible from Derrick. "Besides, it's not like I'm on my own this time, and you were the one who said I needed an escort everywhere." Rai smiled innocently at Derrick.

Derrick stared at Rai; his slowly made their way to Rai's back, and then pulled Rai closer. Derrick then touched his forehead to Rai's and closed his eyes.

Scott and the others just kept staring at Rai and Derrick with looks of abject horror on their faces.

Derrick sighed softly before opening his dark green eyes again and looking to Rai's brown ones.

"Promise me you won't do anything that could kill you." Derrick ordered.

"I promise. Dying isn't something I'd enjoy, I'm sure." Rai told Derrick. Derrick chuckled at that. He then disappeared, as if he hadn't really been there in the first place. The red glow was gone as well.

Rai turned to his friends, who were still looking at him in shock. "Oh knock it off; at least he won't bother us again for a while." Rai snapped at them. Hugging Derrick like that had made Rai's skin crawl. He had only done it to distract Derrick from coming up with something horrible to do to Rai's friends. Rai considered himself lucky that Derrick's mood could be easily swayed like that…although there were times where it was very dangerous.

"Y-y-you just flirted with _Derrick_!" Richard's voice went up sharply in pitch as he stuttered. "Are you _insane_?" Richard asked shrilly.

Rai ignored him, walking to one of the cardboard boxes that had come late the night before. The boxes had all of Rai's stuff from when he was living in the Ashford dorms. Rai pulled out an Ashford Academy uniform and then made his way to the first floor bathroom.

"You guys better get dressed; we'll be late for our first day at this rate." Rai told them. Richard, Edward, and James were going to get their new school uniforms today, but were going to wear regular clothes until then. Scott was planning to run around town and buy things like furniture and appliances for the house.

"I can't believe he did that!" Richard whispered to his brothers and Scott.

"I can." Scott said just to annoy Richard.

"He should be more careful about that, though." James told the others. "Derrick's not someone to toy with, even if Rai has good intentions…"

~Page Break~

Rai felt an almost sadistic amusement as he watch Milly boss Lelouch around in the kitchen. Especially since Lelouch was wearing a very…pink apron. While Lelouch, Milly, Rivalz, and Shirley were doing the actual cooking, Rai was doing the dishes. The reason Rai wasn't helping cooking was that anything more complicated than a frozen pizza in the oven for fifteen minutes was difficult for him. He wasn't necessarily _bad_ at cooking…he just wouldn't exactly get any compliments from Gordon Ramsey…

"Lelouch, open the oven." Milly ordered.

"Yeah, yeah." Lelouch sighed, doing as he was told.

"Some salt," Milly ordered, referring to what Rai thought looked like stew. Lelouch sprinkled in a bit of salt. "Frying pan," Milly reminded Lelouch. Lelouch quickly went to the stove and flipped whatever it was that was in the frying pan. "A fresh egg," Lelouch scurried across the kitchen and cracked an egg, putting it in a large metal bowl. Rai didn't hear what the next order was, because Rivalz dumped a couple of bowls and whisks into Rai's dish water at that time. Rai continued washing dishes. "Put the gelato on another plate." Lelouch darted pass Rai in order to get a plate. "Oh and add the rosemary to the sorbet, and add the dill to the sauerkraut, and the black forest cake needs-."

"I can't do this by myself!" Lelouch told Milly in annoyed exasperation. "Why do you keep only asking me to help with it all?"

"We didn't have a choice." Milly said. "Rivalz has no sense of taste, Rai's on dish duty, and of course she's a…" Milly looked at Shirley, who was using an electric mixer to mix something in another bowl. However she had it on too high and was having trouble controlling it. The others leaned away from her. The bowl Shirley was mixing stuff in went flying high into the air.

"Well after all she isn't the most focused person in the world." Lelouch said.

"Oh just behave and do what you're told now." Milly teased Lelouch, going over to him. "Usually a character like you would act like the type who couldn't earn a living."

"And he keeps a book of his household spending." Rivalz said, merrily peeling potatoes.

"How'd you know that?" Lelouch demanded.

"Oh geez, you really do?" Rivalz asked in amused surprise. Rai couldn't help but snicker at that.

Suddenly Shirley let out a yell of surprise. There was a clatter that made Rai pause and look over at her along with the others. The bowl fell on Shirley as she fell down, making a 'splat' sound. "Want a towel?" Rivalz asked her.

"I'll get it myself, thank you." Shirley told him, trying offended. Rai went back to his job.

"President," Lelouch said, calling for Milly's attention. "Can I ask something?"

"Certainly, although I may chose not to answer you." Milly taunted lightly.

"So today, we are celebrating Rolo and me coming back alive?" Lelouch asked. Milly hummed in agreement.

"You two escaped that terror attack alright." Milly said, sounding kind of proud of Lelouch. "Shirley was practically out of her mind, the poor girl." Shirley chose this time to finally get up off of the floor. "'Oh if my Lulu's been killed!'" Milly quoted. Shirley made an odd high pitched squeal-squawk as she ran to Milly in order to stop Milly from embarrassing her.

"Hey, where is Rolo?" Rivalz asked.

"I spoke with him but, you know," Milly said. Her voice muffled since Shirley was covering her mouth. "The boy's a lot more sensitive than his older brother."

"That's partly why doesn't have any friends, isn't it." Rivalz observed.

"You should simply say he's quiet." Shirley scolded Rivalz. Milly looked at Lelouch, slightly worried if Lelouch would be offended by what Rivalz had said.

"Uh, not that I mind your dirty hands on my mouth, but…" Milly said to Shirley.

"Oh, right." Shirley said as she let go of Milly. "Sorry."

Rivalz and Milly chuckled at her. Rai glanced at Lelouch, and saw the thoughtful look he had on his face. Rai also noticed a flicker of irritation, or something similar that crossed Lelouch's features for a second.

Lelouch hadn't approached Rai just yet. Granted it hadn't even been a full day yet, but Rai was doubtful that Lelouch would bother with him. Since undoubtedly Lelouch believed Rai's memory was altered, Rai didn't believe Lelouch would go out of his way to try and get Rai to remember.

There was also something-well, some_one_ else Rai was curious about. Suzaku was on some military assignment at the moment, and Rai wondered how Suzaku would act towards him. Rai didn't think Suzaku would know about Rai being Akuma. However, Euphemia's death had affected Suzaku in a horrible way. Rai was a little worried that Suzaku might act distant to him now.

Rai shook his head to rid himself of the negative thoughts.

They finished up cooking for now, just as the bell rang for classes. Rai dried the final bowl and put it away. He grabbed his book bag and followed the other Student Council members to their next class.

"So Rai, how long have you known those triplets?" Rivalz asked. Rai shrugged.

"I've know their whole family for a while now. Their father, Patrick Avery, is a business tycoon of sorts, though I don't know exactly what he does. They have an older brother named Derrick, who's adopted, and he's going to be head of the family when their father dies. Then there's their little sister Samantha, who I swear is the evilest female to ever be born or at least in the top ten. And finally they have a cousin named Aden, he's the son of Patrick's little brother, and he's the oldest out of all the children." Rai explained.

"Wow, I can't image what it'd be like with four siblings and a cousin. It must get a bit crazy when they're all together." Shirley laughed.

"You have _no_ idea." Rai sighed, remembering the last time he had been over at the Avery Family Mansion during the summer.

"If Derrick's adopted, then why would he become head of the family?" Milly asked. "Usually in that kind of family, it's the first born biological child who inherits the business."

"Derrick was adopted because Patrick and his wife didn't think they'd have any kids of their own, since they had been trying for years with no success. However, a year after Derrick was adopted; Mrs. Avery became pregnant with the triplets. And a year after they were born, Mrs. Avery had Samantha…Mrs. Avery died while giving birth to Samantha." Rai sighed.

"How terrible!" Shirley gasped. "Five little kids losing their mom at such a young age. It's a miracle they're normal at all."

Rai gave her a funny look, and then couldn't help but laugh.

"That depends on your definition of 'normal' I suppose…" Rai said with a chuckle. "I guess they could have turned out worse though."

"Yeah…they could have turned out like Lelouch!" Rivalz whispered conspiratorially to Rai. He quickly ran away when he saw the annoyed glare Lelouch gave him. Rai and Milly laughed loudly together as Shirley yelled at Rivalz.

Later that day, Rai sat with the triplets during lunch on the rooftop. Rai frowned for a moment as he remembered that it was the place where he had seen Suzaku trying to get the writing off of his shirt.

Richard pulled out a ham and cheese sandwich, along with a small thermos full of apple juice from his lunch sack. Edward had bought a thing of spaghetti and a carton of chocolate milk from the cafeteria for lunch, while James bit into his turkey and ranch wrap, with his ice tea sitting right beside him. Rai had gotten nachos and a soda from the cafeteria.

"So we ain't gonna ta meet ya're buddy Suzaku right away, are we?" Edward asked.

"He's busy at the moment. Suzaku only goes to school whenever the military doesn't need him for anything." Rai told him. Richard suddenly sighed forlornly. "What's his problem?" Rai asked Edward and James.

Edward and James shared an amused look.

"He depressed that Milly's engaged." James told Rai. "Ever since he saw first saw her (yesterday), he's been head over heels for the girl." James chuckled.

"Well then I hate to make you even sadder Richard, but Rivalz also like Milly. _A lot_. So you're pretty much screwed, man." Rai told Richard. Richard pouted at Rai, and then took an oddly aggressive bite out of his sandwich.

~Page Break~

Rai, Richard, Edward, and James were about to leave for home when Rai froze.

"Aw shit! I forgot my math book in the Student Council meeting room!" Rai sighed at his own forgetfulness. "I'll catch up with you guys, alright?"

"Try not to get mauled by anything the whole five minutes you're alone, okay?" Richard teased. Rai rolled his eyes and playfully shoved his friend. The triplets continued walking away, while Rai quickly jogged towards the Council's clubhouse.

Much to his surprise, Rai bumped into Rolo on the way there.

"Hi Rolo." Rai greeted as cheerfully as he could. Rolo was just one character Rai didn't want to be alone with…_ever_.

And yet of course, that's how it was now.

"Hello, Rai. Why are you heading to the Student Council clubhouse? I thought you now live off campus." Rolo asked. He sounded like he believed Rai was highly suspicious. Rai rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"I forgot my math book there earlier when I was helping with the cooking." Rai explained, laughing slightly. "Why are you headed there?" Rai asked Rolo.

"I'm looking for my brother." Rolo said. The two of them continued walking.

When they got there, they found Lelouch looking through some photos in the electronic photo album of the Student Council.

"What's up?" Rolo asked Lelouch. "How come you're looking through the album?"

Rai decided to just grab his math book and go. He looked around the room for it, trying to remember exactly where he had put it. "Hey, that's the Student Council Marathon Dance file, isn't it?" Rolo asked, sounding happy.

"You know the Prez." Lelouch said, smiling slightly. "She likes to run us ragged with all these events she likes to put on."

Rai frowned, wondering where on earth that silly book could be. He scanned the bookshelf, hoping that it was put there by accident.

"Oh, that's the Broken Heart Contest." Rolo said. He was talking about another photo that came onto the screen Lelouch was looking at.

"Talk about sad irony. The Prez stomps on Rivalz's heart and then presents him with the award for winning." Lelouch chuckled.

"She's a bit twisted that way." Rai muttered, making Lelouch chuckle more.

"Weird how you happened to escape," Rolo said to Lelouch, his expression now serious. Lelouch looked at him. "You heard the news, didn't you? Our military had Babel Tower completely surrounded. So how did you do it? How did you manage to pass them?"

Rai couldn't help but comment on that.

"Don't you know your brother?" Rai said with a smile. "He can get out of any situation, being the total chess-master he is."

For a second, Lelouch looked at Rai as if trying to read more into what Rai had said.

"Besides," Lelouch said, talking to Rolo. "What do you mean by that, Rolo? Do you want to know how I got away from the military, or did you mean terrorists?" Lelouch asked. Rolo looked surprised by what Lelouch said. "I took an emergency corridor. I tried to call you, but my cell phone wouldn't work in that particular area."

Rolo hesitated before speaking. Rai crouched down and looked on the bottom shelf of the bookcase, but still couldn't find the blasted math book.

"I see…" he said, his voice slightly quiet. Rolo gripped his cell phone tightly. Rai noticed the heart locket attached to it. It was something that Lelouch had given to Nunnally.

Rai saw the flash of anger that appeared for a split second on Lelouch's face. He also saw how Lelouch clenched a hand under the desk into a fist.

"Rolo, give me that locket." Lelouch told Rolo, holding out a hand. He sounded calm, as if there was nothing wrong. Rolo looked confused. "I don't know what I was thinking, that's not a good gift for a guy." Lelouch reached for the cell phone. "I'll get you something-." Rolo practically jumped away from Lelouch.

"Don't take it!" Rolo cried, looking upset. He held his phone close to his chest. "You gave it to me. It's mine!"

Lelouch was surprised by Rolo's reaction. "Please don't," Rolo basically begged. "Don't take it back."

"Sure, fine. You keep it then, Rolo." Lelouch said. Rolo visibly relaxed. He looked at the locket with a soft expression.

"There it is!" Rai suddenly yelled, making the other two boys jump. Rai ran across the room and picked up his math book, which somehow ended up underneath one of the computer desks. He held it up in triumph, earning puzzled, slightly worried looks from Lelouch and Rolo.

"You always misplace stuff." Lelouch chuckled at Rai. Rai shrugged, smiling a bit.

"My memory might be bad at times," Rai admitted, walking pass Rolo and Lelouch to the door. "But there are at least some things I just can't forget." Rai glanced back at Lelouch after saying that.

Lelouch didn't respond other than to stare at Rai as Rai left the building.

"I wonder what he meant by that." Rolo said suspiciously.

"He's talking about the time I tricked him into going shopping with Shirley and Milly. They used him as a dress up doll and he's never forgiven me for it." Lelouch lied to Rolo with a laugh.

~Page Break~

The next day after school, Rai was about to head home when Milly, Rivalz, and a reluctant looking Rolo blocked Rai's path.

"Rai, we're going to kidnap you, okay?" Milly asked happily. Knowing Milly, Rai didn't actually have a choice in the matter. "We don't seem to hang out much anymore other than at club meetings, and you were gone for so long…So you're coming with us on a spying mission."

"But-." Rai tried to argue. Unfortunately for him, Milly and Rivalz grabbed each of his arms and dragged him with them.

~Another Page Break~

"…Why are we hiding in the bushes and stalking Lelouch and Shirley on their date?" Rai asked in a whisper. Milly hushed him. She was having far too much fun at the moment, considering what the four of them were doing.

Lelouch and Shirley were in a wine store, picking out a gift for a teacher, whose name escaped Rai at the moment. Rai thought it was silly for Milly, Rivalz, Rolo and Rai personally, to hide in the bushes in a _mall_. It just made the four of them look suspicious.

"What a great topic for our next meeting of the Society of Research on Male-Female dating!" Milly whispered excitedly.

"Um, right…" Rolo agreed, not sounding so sure.

"Yeah, but is it fair for him to follow his own brother?" Rivalz asked, talking about Rolo.

"You're as interested as we are, aren't you?" Milly asked Rolo.

"I think you and Rivalz are the only ones that are so 'interested'." Rai grumbled. Rivalz lightly punched him in the arm.

"Anyway, she may end up being your family member." Milly told Rolo as she looked at Shirley.

"She's right." Rivalz said.

"So you're matchmakers as well as stalkers? Wonderful." Rai murmured. This time Milly reached around Rivalz and smacked Rai upside the head.

"…family…" Rolo muttered in a bit of a hollow voice.

When Lelouch and Shirley exited the wine store with a fancy looking bag, Milly, Rai, Rivalz, and Rolo sneakily followed the couple.

"You do realize that Lelouch probably knows we're following him right?" Rai told them.

"Yeah right, not even Lelouch is that paranoid, Rai." Rivalz scoffed, rolling his eyes.

The next store Lelouch and Shirley went into was an electronics store. Lelouch sat down and filled out some papers, apparently buying a new phone or something. While Shirley went to the music section and put on a pair of headphones, listening to the sample music. At one point Lelouch went back to Shirley and the two of them talked about something. Lelouch and Shirley then went to a clothing store.

Suddenly the mall intercom system chimed on.

"Paging Mr. Maxmillion from the Hakudate Settlement," The man on the intercom said calmly. "Paging Mr. Maxmillion from the Hakudate Settlement, you have a phone call."

Rai saw Lelouch, dressed in a different outfit, exit the door and walk away, followed by one of the people who were working with Rolo to spy on Lelouch.

The fire alarm suddenly blared, making Rai jump. Rolo began running off somewhere.

"Rolo, what going on!" Rivalz asked. "Rolo!

"Rolo, don't run off!" Milly tried to yell to Rolo, but Rolo was too far away, heading to the store Lelouch was 'supposed' to be in.

Knowing that Milly and Rivalz would be fine, Rai quickly sneaked away. He was planning to just go home, since nothing else important was going to happen here. However, just as Rai left the mall, he felt someone grab him by his upper arm and tugged him in a different direction. Rai looked and it was Lelouch.

"We need to talk." Lelouch said. Rai nodded and followed him. They began walking back towards Ashford Academy. "Everyone's memories were changed, and yet yours weren't, why is that?" Lelouch asked.

"I don't know," Rai lied. "Probably because I left Area 11 with Scott before the battle ended. Whoever messed with everyone's memories must have done so after the Black Knights were defeated."

"…Why did you leave the middle of the battle?" Lelouch asked, the tone of his voice sounded strange to Rai.

"Well, technically Scott kidnapped me. He stole a Knightmare, grabbed me, and took us as far as we could go with the Knightmare. Then after the battery died, Scott and I boarded a plane and flew back to the Homeland." Rai lied. "There was someone back home who was worried about my safety and Scott kind of works for him…Lelouch, I didn't want to leave, but I didn't exactly get a choice in the matter. The person Scott works for…he's power and dangerous. I couldn't risk angering him and have who knows what happen because of it."

Lelouch looked as if he didn't believe Rai, and considering that Rai was lying, Rai couldn't blame him.

"Alright then." Lelouch said.

"You're memory was messed with as well, wasn't it?" Rai asked. Lelouch nodded. "…What did you remember about me?" Rai couldn't help but ask the question that had been bugging him.

"…Only how Milly was hunting you for a while, trying to get you to join a club, and that she finally forced you to join the Student Council." Lelouch said, sounding a bit cold.

The two of them were quiet for a bit, crossing the street and turning at a corner.

"Milly knows, well at least during the battle she knew, that I was 'Akuma'." Rai told Lelouch.

"Well considering she hasn't said anything about it that was probably erased from her memory." Lelouch said.

"Lelouch, do you know who altered everyone's memories?" Rai asked, although he already knew who it was. Lelouch didn't answer right away.

"It was my father, the Emperor." Lelouch informed Rai. "He has Geass like I do."

"Then, if the Emperor can change people's memories…wouldn't that mean he knows that I was working for you? Why isn't my face on a wanted poster for treason?" Rai wondered.

"I'm not certain, but he probably doesn't find you to be a threat, and therefore decided to simply ignore you for the most part. Erasing Milly's memory of you being 'Akuma' must have been so another measure to make sure my memory wouldn't find a way to be returned to me." Lelouch guessed.

"So, what are we going to do next?" Rai asked.

"We're going to deal with my fake-brother right now." Lelouch said. "Then, we need to find a way for you to be 'Akuma', but not go missing from school, since whoever's been watching me will most likely also be watching you."

"I already have that covered." Rai told him. Lelouch looked at him in surprise. "Scott's going to be 'Akuma' in my stead; after all he's already a wanted criminal anyway. Then, even the people who 'know' I'm 'Akuma' will now think that they were mistaken."

"Do you think Scott will be able to properly act like 'Akuma'?" Lelouch asked. Rai couldn't help but laugh at that.

"Of course he can!" Rai laughed. "Along with the triplets, who back at our old school were called 'The Akuma Trio', Scott was part of the inspiration behind 'Akuma'!"

Lelouch looked thoughtful for a moment.

"I guess I can see that." Lelouch relented. He was probably remembering how earlier that day, Richard had dumped a bucket of pink goo onto Rivalz from on top of the roof. "Alright, we're almost to the school, so here's the plan: …"

~Page Break~

"What's his location?" Rolo asked, probably taking to the men who were _supposed_ to be in the security room. Instead it was empty.

The surprised look on Rolo's face almost made Rai forget that Rolo could kill both Lelouch and him in the blink of an eye…or even faster than that…

_I hope he doesn't decide to kill me, and then attack Lelouch…that would most definitely suck…_ Rai thought to himself.

"No one's here." Rolo said as the door slid closed behind him. "Where are they?"

Lelouch's gun made a 'click' sound as he pointed it at the back of Rolo's head. Rolo gasped and then turned his head slightly to look at Lelouch.

_Maybe it would help if you looked behind you before saying that no one's in the room._ Rai wanted to say, but decided against it.

"It seems they've gone looking for C.C." Lelouch told Rolo.

"I see." Rolo said. "You really have awakened."

"I put the man who was following me under my absolute control and turned him into my slave." Lelouch explained. "Just as I thought, your top priority was the capture of C.C….No matter how wrong the information is that you get." Lelouch chuckled.

"If you're not careful Lelouch, you're going to end up like villain who brags about their plans too soon." Rai warned. Lelouch gave him a glancing glare, keeping most of his attention on Rolo.

"Very funny, Rai." Lelouch said sarcastically. He went back to talking to Rolo. "As of this moment, this gilded prison of a school will become my castle-my fortress of freedom." Lelouch lifted up his other hand, over his Geass eye. "And as for you, dear brother," Lelouch said mockingly, taking off the contact lens. "I'll make you my pawn to find Nunnally."

Rai blinked and was momentarily confused when he suddenly felt an arm around his throat and saw that now Rolo was behind Lelouch and pointing Lelouch's own gun at him. When Rai tried to struggle, Rolo tightened his grip, making it hard for Rai to breathe.

"What?" Lelouch muttered in surprise, before realizing that Rolo was behind him. "Geass?" Lelouch guessed. "You stopped time?"

"Lelouch," Rolo said. "Now you and your demonic eye…will die." The sheer calmness in Rolo's voice as he said that, make Rai's skin crawl.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I figured that I should answer one of the questions that a reader PMed here because everyone else might be confused as well. The question was that a Rai was back in the "real world" for only a month, but when he and the others went back to Code Geass, a month had passed. That's because while only a little bit of time has passed in the "real world", more time passes in Code Geass. I did that because in the space of a few episodes, a few days or so go by in anime, sometimes more. For instance the first time Rai was back in the "real world" momentarily, a lot of time had went by in Code Geass, but Richard wasn't kidding when he said that not much had happened during Rai and Scott's absence. Also, that's why Rai's dad wasn't all that bothered that Rai hadn't contacted him in a while (Rai's dad thought Rai was on a trip, one that was a month long or so). Sorry that I didn't clear that up in the story.**

**However, I can't answer the second question I was asked, because that's a secret that does get answered within the story. *Evil Laughter* **

**Thanks to Bright Blade7, Anubis9 lord of death, Mangakitty222333, Frieda, AyameRose, Kiseki no Tenshi, ZeroPanda, and WhiteAngle128. **

For a moment, Rai was annoyed at the fact that he and Rolo were about the same height…with Rolo being slightly taller. The only way Rai could see Rolo's face was from the reflection off of a computer screen.

"Your Geass," Lelouch said with a growl. "Is the power to stop time?"

"I no reason to answer you." Rolo said in his calm 'I'm a creepy murderous young man' tone. "My orders are as follows: If Lelouch Lamperouge's memories return-if Zero is awakened, then he is to die."

"Sixteen," Lelouch said. Rolo looked momentarily startled. Rai didn't like that, since Rolo's arm once again tightened around Rai's throat. "Seventeen, eighteen,"

"What's that?" Rolo asked, sounding annoyed as well as confused.

"Nineteen," Lelouch simply continued.

"Why are you counting?" Rolo demanded.

"Since the moment you appeared, I've been counting the seconds carefully to myself one by one." Lelouch pointed at one of the computer screens. "But now the count is out of sync, now why do you think that is." Lelouch pulled out a remote and pressed a button.

The security camera feeds light up and began replaying what had happened only seconds before.

Rolo had used his Geass to freeze Lelouch and take the gun away from him. He then calmly walked to behind Lelouch and pointed the gun at Lelouch's head, while grabbing the frozen Rai by the neck and putting him in a choke hold. "Rolo, you can't stop time, no one can. You've just altered my sense of time."

"Understand that doesn't help you." Rolo told Lelouch. "You still can't beat me."

"You're correct Rolo, but that doesn't help _you_ either." Lelouch retorted. "You'd like to kill me now, but you can't, and we both know the reason why." Lelouch smirked. "If I die, you won't gain either of the two things you want."

"Two things?" Rolo repeated.

"First you won't get C.C., for whom I'm the bait in your hunt." Lelouch said. "But if you let me go, I can draw her out for you. I'll help you get her."

"You'd sell out C.C. like that?" Rolo asked. Rai wouldn't be so unnerved by him if he'd just show a little more emotion. Rolo was like a freaking robot!

"She isn't worth my own life." Lelouch said. "Survival comes first."

Rolo had, what Rai looked considered the funniest (as in Rai wanted to laugh at Rolo's expression), skeptical look on his face.

"And what's the other thing?" Rolo asked. Lelouch turned his head a bit and looked at Rolo.

"_Your_ life." Lelouch said. Rolo actually scoffed at that.

"Like I care about that." Rolo said, looking amused.

"Rolo, what is the future?" Lelouch asked. Rolo seemed uncertain for a second. "The future is hope. Without hope, your life is on hold-empty, waiting-and you have no hope beyond your mission, Rolo. If you capture C.C. what sort of future will that open up for you? Things will just go on as they are and _nothing_ will change."

"But this is my mission." Rolo argued. Lelouch turned completely around and faced Rolo. Lelouch took a step towards Rolo, who backed away a bit. Rai let out a small choking noise as he was forced to follow Rolo.

"Kill me and your mission will never become completed. You want to capture C.C. don't you?" Lelouch pointed out. Rolo made a soft noise that sounded like a grunt, oddly enough. "Tomorrow, I'll lure C.C. out and she'll be yours." Lelouch told Rolo. "Once that's done, your new future will begin." Lelouch looked at Rolo with a kind expression. "Don't worry; I would never lie to you."

If right now wasn't such a dangerous moment, Rai would have rolled his eyes.

"That doesn't mean I shouldn't kill Rai." Rolo said. "He knows too much and isn't of any importance to my mission."

Rai glared at Lelouch, since Lelouch was the one who told Rai to tag along.

"Rai has known I was Zero for a long time now, and yet he's told no one. He will keep quiet about this." Lelouch assured Rolo. "Besides, he is of use to me, and replacing him would be…very difficult. Also, his friends would know something was wrong if he disappeared without them."

Rolo must have decided that what Lelouch said was an acceptable excuse not to kill Rai, because Rolo finally released his hold on Rai.

Rai immediately headed for the door.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow, then." Rai waved goodbye to the other two. Rolo looked as if he was re-thinking if it was a good idea to just let Rai leave. Lelouch simply nodded at Rai. "Man, I hope Scott and Richard don't come to any strange conclusions as to why I was gone for so long." Rai muttered.

~Page Break~

"WHO DID YOU HAVE SEX WITH?" Scott hollered in Rai's face. Rai had just gotten home, hell he had just gotten in through the front door, when Scott jumped him. Rai kicked Scott in the shin.

"Don't yell that kind of crap!" Rai snarled at Scott. "And why on earth did you come to the conclusion I was doing…_that_ with anybody?" Rai walked past Scott, going through the living room and into the kitchen. Edward and James were both reading on the couch in the living room, while Richard was on the floor in front of the large flat-screen TV and playing some video game Scott had bought.

"Well, you didn't leave school with us, and you were gone for quite a long time." Scott told Rai.

Rai went to the refrigerator and opened it up. Scott stood right behind him.

"How does that equal sex?" Rai asked, giving Scott a 'you make no sense' look over his shoulder. Rai looked into the fridge and grabbed a chocolate pudding cup.

"You're talking to _Scott_, everything equals sex to him." Richard piped up from where he was.

"As if you're one to talk, Richard!" Scott shouted. He turned and glared in Richard's direction. Rai rolled his eyes and sneaked pass Scott to get to the silverware drawer.

"How about we agree that both Richard and Scott are complete perverts and just end this discussion, shall we?" Rai asked, pulling out a spoon. He then went back into the living room and sat in between James and Edward on the couch.

"Hey!" Richard and Scott both yelled at Rai.

"So what were you doing?" James asked, looking up from his book.

"Remember how I told you guys that Lelouch now knows that my memory wasn't altered?" Rai asked. The others nodded. "Today, while Milly and Rivalz were making me and Rolo stalk Lelouch and Shirley on their date-and yes, I'm aware that sounds weird so shut up-Lelouch caused a distraction so that he could escape the people who are spying on him for a moment. He found me and we talked a bit." Rai said. "Also I tagged along when he sat up a trap for Rolo. Rolo's going to keep it a secret that Lelouch has his memories back as long as Lelouch hands over C.C. Of course that was a lie, because there's no way Lelouch would do that, but it works until Lelouch finds a way to deal with Rolo permanently."

"So what's our next step?" James asked. Rai shrugged.

"I'm not sure. Last time I was here, I worked with Lelouch, but tried to change stuff along the way. It didn't work though." Rai sighed. Richard grinned as he turned off his game.

"What if you don't work for Lelouch this time?" Richard suggested. He turned around and looked at Rai.

"I can't do that, I swore not to betray him." Rai reminded Richard. Richard shook his head.

"No, hear me out. What if we don't actually join either of the groups, but formed our own. Our cover story was that Scott took you away on someone else's orders, right? So let's use that. Let's pretend that we're working for a third party. Rai can still work with Lelouch, but we'll say that our boss, or should I say King, is only 'allowing it'. Then we can send someone else to the Britannians on behalf of our 'group' as well." Richard said. He was all excited just talking about it.

"So you think we should be a neutral group, and fight _both_ the Britannians and the Black Knights?" Scott asked in disbelief.

"Well kind of, we won't be in full out war with the two, but we'll work with both in a way, and try to find a middle ground." Richard explained.

"I think it's a good idea, except that I don't think King would be happy that we're pretty much doing whatever we want, but then saying it was on his orders." James said.

"Hey, what Derrick don't know, won't make him want to kill us." Scott said with a smile.

"So who would we have as a 'representative' of our group to the Britannians?" Rai asked. "James can't be it, he's too shy and nice to everyone, and the Britannians will consider him weak because of it. Scott can't be it, since the Britannians want to execute him for treason. I can't do it because I'm working with Lelouch. So that leaves Richard or Edward."

"They could both be representatives." James offered. "Since technically you _and _Scott are working with Lelouch because Scott's going to be 'Akuma' from now on."

"That would work." Richard said. "Are you okay with that, Edward?"

Edward nodded.

"I'm fine with that, but are we gonna get in tight with da Britannians? If we join da military, it'd take to damn long ta meet anybody that's high up." Edward asked.

They all went silent, trying to think of a solution. Then Richard got an idea.

"How about you, Rai, introduce Edward to Suzaku. Next you, Edward, try to be buddies with Suzaku. Before that I could, on 'orders' from King, hand Scott over to that prince guy Scott was banging!" Richard proposed.

Everyone glared at him.

"How am I supposed to be 'Akuma' if I'm in jail and/or executed!" Scott snapped. Richard's grin was full of mischief.

"Just as I hand you over to the Britannians, you'll escape. James could dress up as 'Akuma' and while piloting a Knightmare, crash in and snatch you up! I'll tell the Britannians that King had ordered Scott _not_ to join the Black Knights, and that by working with Zero and Akuma, Scott was disobeying orders. That way, the Britannians will think that, at least King isn't necessarily their enemy and that our 'group' doesn't like the Black Knights." Richard clarified.

"And da reason ya want me ta be aquaintences with Suzaku is?" Edward inquired.

"So that Suzaku will try to get information out of you about our 'group', and while he's doing that, you'll be doing the same thing to him." Richard told Edward.

"…I hate politics." Edward grumbled. Richard snickered. "But I'll do it, I guess."

Suddenly Rai realized something.

"Guys!" Rai called for everyone's attention. "Rolo used his Geass on me…and it worked!"

The others paled somewhat at that.

"But Mao's Geass hadn't worked on you the last time you were here!" Richard remembered Rai telling him. Scott frowned for a moment.

"It might be because last time I didn't do the spell properly. We only just barely made it into Code Geass. The reality itself didn't know how to respond to us, which probably why some things that are a part of Code Geass didn't work. This time however, I didn't make any mistakes (that I'm aware of), so we were 'accepted' into the reality easier…at least I _think_ that's what's going on." Scott said.

"In that case, we best be careful on Geass users." James said. The others nodded.

"What I'm worried about is CLAMP. 'She's' not going to be happy that I'm back." Rai said.

The others shared a look that Rai would've missed if he hadn't been looking right at them. "What was that? Do you guys know something that I don't?" Rai asked them, frowning.

"…Well after you were shot, and King found out…he sort of-well…" Richard couldn't even look Rai in the eye.

"King used that crystal Scott gave 'im an' hunted CLAMP down. Then he…well for lack of a better word…ate CLAMP." Edward told Rai. Rai looked at him as if he grew another head.

"Derrick _ate_ someone? I knew he's done some twisted things, but _cannibalism_? That one's new." Rai said, looking very disturbed. "How'd he even _do_ that? 'She' could turn into whatever she wanted and summon creatures that CLAMP created. I didn't think even Derrick could actually go toe-to-toe with something like that and _win_!"

"I'm not sure how he did it, but somehow our terrifying King not only defeated what could be considered a god-like being, but then consumed it and now has its powers." Scott told Rai.

Rai stared at Scott.

"_You're kidding me_!" Rai squeaked. The others shook their heads. "That's ridiculous!" Rai covered his face with his hands, wondering why the universe hated him so much.

"We're just lucky that Derrick hasn't found a way to get into the Code Geass reality. Sure he can bring people to that 'in between' place, but he doesn't know how to actually get here. I only made one of these locket things." Scott pulled his pocket-locket out of his pocket. "Derrick can't use CLAMP's powers back home, the only place he would be able to use them is here in Code Geass."

Rai slumped in relief.

"Thank every deity there is that he can't use it back home. He'd take over the world if he could!" Rai said, shivering.

The others muttered their agreement. "Wait, can he use CLAMP's powers in the 'in between' reality that he take people to?" Rai asked Scott. Scott shook his head.

"No, since it's not really the Code Geass reality. Having CLAMP's powers is useless to Derrick at the moment, since he's not here." Scott clarified.

"I wonder why he 'ate' CLAMP then." Rai thought out loud.

The others didn't have an answer.

~Page Break~

Scott had been able to obtain a rather out dated Knightmare, one that they would all use to practice with. The entire day that Lelouch was saving Ohgi and the other prisoners from being executed, Rai, Richard, Edward, Scott, and James had skipped school (the cover story was that Rai, Richard, Edward, and James were called back to the Homeland for the day because there was an emergency of some vague sorts).

They took the boat that Scott had bought from somewhere (at this point, Rai was beginning to think Scott was running out of money, because the boat was an old thing that look like it shouldn't be able to still float.) and sailed to a small island. The Knightmare that Scott had bought had been taken to the island the day before.

It took the boys about five hours to get to the island and they had left Area 11 at 7:00 am, making it 12:00 pm, so by the time they were done they wouldn't be back to Area 11 until late.

Thankfully, James had the sense to pack everyone some food.

Rai was glad that his books on Knightmare piloting were among the things that were in the boxes from Ashford Academy. The five of them had read some of the books on the way to the island.

For the next five or so hours each of them took turns piloting the Knightmare. Rai wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not that they had such an odd Knightmare…considering that they kept crashing into things and making the Knightmare fall over…and they couldn't tell which dents were ones they made, or were on the Knightmare beforehand.

"So James," Richard said to his brother as they sat down to take a break and eat. "Do you think that you can pilot a Knightmare well enough for our plan?" Richard asked. James shrugged as he handed Scott a container of instant ramen. Edward had built a fire, and they had a kettle of water hanging above it and were waiting for it to boil.

"Yeah, as long as I don't have to do anything fancy. I mean, I've gotten pretty good at turning and such, but don't expect me to turn on a dime." James said. Scott grinned.

"You're certain better at turning than Rai is!" Scott snickered. During Rai's attempt at piloting, he had tried to turn, but made the Knightmare flip over and roll a good distance instead.

"Oh shove it." Rai grumbled, reading another one of the books.

"At least you won't need to be an expert pilot for our plan to work. All you need to do is drive straight and shoot at any other Knightmares there, and then grab me and run away." Scott said. The kettle whistled and he grabbed. He filled his cup of ramen first and then handed the kettle to Richard.

"Speakin' of which, we outta practice shootin' after our dinner." Edward suggested. The others nodded.

"If James is as good with a Knightmare gun system as he is in all of those arcade shooting video games, then he'll have no trouble." Rai laughed. James just smiled sheepishly.

They ate their meal, which was instant ramen, potato chips, and water from their water bottles.

Once they had cleaned up their trash, they went back to studying the books and practiced using the Knightmare's gun.

Finally, at around 10:00 pm, they packed up everything and sailed back to Area 11. Edward, James, Richard, Rai, and Scott were all exhausted. They immediately went to their separate beds and collapsed.

~Page Break~

The next morning (AKA: three hours later) everyone was barely awake enough to function.

"How about on Saturday evenings we go to the island, spend the night, and then practice all day. That way, we got leave earlier and get a good night's rest and not be dead tired Monday mornings, instead of going in the middle of the week like we yesterday?" Richard said. The others groaned in agreement.

Slowly and pretty much unwillingly, Rai, Richard, James, and Edward got ready for school, while Scott simply waved goodbye to them and went back to bed.

"Ugh," Rai moaned. "I think I'm just going to skip my first couple of classes and just take a nap."

"You can't do that." James said. "The people watching you and Lelouch will wonder why you're so tired that'd you skip class. And since yesterday Zero rescued the captured Black Knights…" James seemed to have dozed off for a second while walking.

"Yeah, yeah, they'd think I was there." Rai grumbled.

They made it to school just barely on time. Rai waved to Shirley and Lelouch as he entered, and sat at his desk by the window. Richard sat next to Rai, Edward sat behind Rai, and James sat next to Edward.

Just as the last minute bell rang, someone in an Ashford Academy uniform entered the room and stood at the front of the class. Rai stared, now wide awake, at…Suzaku, who didn't look as if anything horrible or tragic happened to him, since he was smiling.

"Hello everyone," Suzaku greeted the class. "My name is Suzaku Kururugi, and I'll be returning to classes here at Ashford Academy starting today. I look forward to studying here."

As Suzaku said that, Rai realized Suzaku really did change. The Suzaku that Rai had first met was more self conscious, and was more hesitant. This Suzaku was confident, and almost charming.

Rai wasn't sure if he liked it very much.

"Suzaku Kururugi? The guy who caught Zero?" One student whispered to another.

"'The White Death' is coming to school here?' Another muttered.

"He's the Knight of Seven!" A girl said, sounding excited.

"Okay, quiet down!" Ms. Villetta (Rai finally remembered her name) ordered. "Sir Kururugi has been reassigned to Area 11, and that's why he's coming back to school here." She turned to Suzaku. "Why don't you take the desk next to Lelouch for now?" Ms. Villetta pointed to the desk she was talking about. Lelouch's desk was in front of Rai's.

"Yes, Ma'am." Suzaku said politely. He walked over to Lelouch. Rai noticed Lelouch tense almost unnoticeably.

"Hey, welcome back. It's been sometime." Lelouch said kindly to Suzaku. 

"I missed everyone a lot." Suzaku admitted.

"Suzaku it feels like forever!" Shirley said, running up to him and clasping his hand. Rivalz jump-hugged Suzaku from behind.

"You've really come up in the world haven't you?" Rivalz teased. Rai heard the classroom door open and saw Milly come running in.

"Suzaku's back?" Milly asked excitedly. "Where is he?"

"Madam President, class is in progress, you mind?" Lelouch chided her with a chuckle.

"Is that how they greet everyone who's been gone for a while?" Richard asked Rai loud enough for Suzaku to hear.

"Pretty much I guess. Here at Ashford, people tend to have very close friendships." Rai told Richard. Suzaku looked at Rai.

"…Hello Rai, you're back too." Suzaku said, smiling at him. "Where did you go anyway?"

"Yeah," Richard cut in before Rai could answer. "Sorry about that, but King was worried about Rai, so we kind of kidnapped him and dragged him back to the Homeland." Richard told Suzaku. Suzaku gave him a puzzled look.

"King? Who are you?" Suzaku asked.

"That idiot's name is Richard. James," Rai pointed at James when he said his name. "And Edward," Rai pointed at Edward. "Are his brothers, they're triplets. 'King' is the nickname of their older brother, Derrick, because he acts like he's the 'King of Everything'." Rai explained. Richard, Edward, and James gave him an annoyed look, since that wasn't the actual reason that Derrick got that nickname…although it was close…

"Wow, he sounds kind of full of himself." Rivalz commented.

"He is." Rai confirmed in a dead serious tone.

"Rai," James scolded. "You shouldn't say that." Rai rolled his eyes.

"Relax, you act like he's Candle Ja-." Rai tried to say.

"Don't say that name!" Richard yelped. He looked around wildly, as if a monster would jump out and eat them. Rai laughed loudly, while Edward sighed.

"Sorry, my bros are very superstitious." Edward apologized.

Everyone laughed at that.

**A/N: I'm actually going to write out the whole fight between Derrick and CLAMP and it's going to be a Side Story. It won't be up for a while yet, though, because I want to do some research on various series that CLAMP has done for it. **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: There's a poll on my profile now for who Rai will end up with, please take it.**

**Thanks to Mangakitty222333, and WhiteAngel128. **

Rai looked at the expressions on the triplet's faces, and then laughed.

"H-how-." Richard started.

"Did she-." Edward added.

"Get so much done-." James continued.

"In so _little_ time!" 'The Akuma Trio' finished together, gawking at the huge festival that was supposed to be a welcome party for Suzaku. It had taken less than a week for Milly and the others to set it up.

"That's Milly for you. This is truly her element I suppose." Rai chuckled.

"Yeah but, _you_ didn't get a huge party!" Richard said.

"Milly said that technically this is a welcome party for both Suzaku and Rai, remember? The only reason that she didn't do one just for Rai was because of the terrorist attack on the Babel Tower and they were already having a celebration for Lelouch and Rolo getting out safely." James reminded his brother.

"Even Milly couldn't set up three events in a row in so little time. Besides, today is actually the Ashford Academy Annual Festival, so they're been working on this event for a while now." Rai said.

"Yeah, but we hadn't heard anything about this before…" Richard grumbled. Rai's cell phone beeped, telling Rai he had a new text message. He flipped open his phone.

**10-220-1 [] 86-16-16-333-7 [] 5-16-21 [] 220-199-21-1 [] 220-26-3-1 [] 26-86-21-1-1-45 [] 16-333 [] 26[] 76-21-199-98-1. 66-199-63-63 [] 10-66-1-333-10-44 [] 332-1 [] 1-333-16-8-86-220? **The text was from Scott. Rai blinked for a moment, before remembering what it meant.

It was the Code that the Avery children would use to talk to each other without teachers or anyone else figuring out what they were talking about…however, even after years of dealing with the Code, Rai still couldn't figure out what Scott had texted, at least not without the cheat sheet.

"James, could you translate this for me?" Rai whispered to James, handing the blonde triplet his cell phone. They had to be careful, since there were cameras all over the school campus.

James looked at the numbers. He then used the note function on Rai's phone and translated what Scott had texted.

**The goons for hire have agreed on a price. Will twenty be enough?**

"What do you guys think? Is twenty okay?" Rai asked quietly.

"That should be enough." Richard answered. Rai handed him the cell phone, since Rai didn't know how to say that in the Code. Richard used the Code to text back to Scott.

"I swear that the only thing you know how to say in the Code is 'I'm hungry'." Richard sighed, giving Rai an annoyed look.

"199-977 [] 220-8-333-86-21-44." Rai muttered with a cheerful smile. The triplets shook their heads. Rai's phone beeped again. He opened it and it was another text from Scott.

**10-220-1-333 [] 1-3-1-21-44-10-220-199-333-86-7-21-1-26-45-44. 7-220-16-8-63-45 [] 66-1 [] 45-16 [] 199-10 [] 10-16-21-21-16-66? **This time Edward just took the phone away from Rai and translated for him. **Then everything's ready. Should we do it tomorrow? **

"Tomorrow should be okay, right? If everything's ready then we don't need to wait." Rai said. The others nodded in agreement and Edward texted their answer to Scott.

"What are you guys planning over here?" Milly asked, appearing out of nowhere. The four boys jumped in surprise. "It's not another prank is it?" She narrowed her eyes at Richard, knowing that any prank would most likely be his idea. Richard smirked flirtatiously at Milly. The outfit Milly was wearing looked as if she were from the 1800's or something in Rai's opinion. Granted, he knew little to nothing about dresses.

"We just want to welcome Suzaku back in our own special way…" Richard told her, trying to sound innocent. Milly rolled her eyes.

"Right, anyway Rai it's time to meet up with the other Student Council members and announce the beginning of the festival." Milly told Rai. She grabbed him by the arm and practically dragged him away. The triplets waved goodbye to Rai, not looking remotely fazed.

They got to the announcer booth and Milly shoved Rai inside. Rai tripped and fell into someone.

"Oomph! Sorry about that…" Rai apologized. He looked up at the person and saw that it was Suzaku. Suzaku smiled at him and helped Rai right himself.

"Don't worry about it." Suzaku said. Milly grabbed the microphone and turned it on.

"Apologizes for the delay!" Milly said into the microphone. Her voice echoed all over the school campus. "We are officially kicking off the welcome party for the Knight of Seven!" Milly then turned to Suzaku, covering the microphone with her hand. "Give the word, guest of honor." Rai blinked when he noticed the bow Suzaku was wearing pinned to his school uniform.

_For some reason it reminds me of an animal being judged at a fair. Since it's red, does that mean he won second place or something?_ Rai wondered.

"Yeah, um, I don't suppose that I can refuse?" Suzaku asked, already knowing the answer.

"Sorry, nope." Milly said happily. "It's a presidential order!"

"Just except it." Lelouch told Suzaku. "She sets the rules in this school."

"Alright, guys." Suzaku relented. "Well, get ready then." Suzaku took a deep breath and grabbed the microphone. "Meoooooow!"

Suddenly Rai's phone beeped. He opened it and saw that it was a text from Richard (thankfully not in the Code).

**Did Suzaku really just meow?** Richard's text asked. Rai started snickering.

**Yep.** Rai's text to Richard said.

"'And I thought our school back home was crazy.'" Milly read the text out loud. Rai gave her an annoyed look.

"Don't you know it's rude to do that?" Rai told her, texting Richard back.

"So I have been told." Milly replied. She then read Rai's text to Richard out loud. "'You've seem to forgotten the time Aden programmed a robot to steal people's pants.'" Milly scoffed after reading that. "Oh I'm sure I can top that." Milly said.

"Good luck with that." Rai said, rolling his eyes. The Student Council members separated to go do their duties and enjoy the festival.

Before Rai could go find the triplets, Suzaku grabbed him by the arm.

"Hey Rai, can I talk to you for a bit?" Suzaku asked. He had such a tight grip on Rai's arm that Rai didn't think he had a choice in the matter.

"Sure." Rai said. Suzaku led Rai away from all the noise and commotion of the festival. _What is it that Suzaku wants to talk about? He seems tense, so whatever it is must be serious…_

When they were out of sight and hearing range of anyone, Suzaku suddenly pinned Rai to the side of a building. Rai was a little unnerved by the way Suzaku stared at him.

"How's your shoulder? Did it heal alright?" Suzaku asked. Rai felt his blood run cold.

"What?" Rai asked. "There's nothing wrong with my shoulder, what are you talking about?" Rai acted confused. Suzaku gave him a cold look.

"You can stop the act Rai; I know that you're Akuma the Hellhound." Suzaku told him.

_Shit! This isn't good…what do I do now?_ Rai would have gritted his teeth, but that could give him away. "Why on earth would you think that? I'm not one of the Black Knights!" Rai said, sounding insulted.

Suzaku grabbed Rai's shoulders and shook him hard.

"Damn it Rai, don't lie to me! You're working for Zero!" Suzaku snapped. Rai shook his head, feeling dizzy from being shaken. Rai shoved at Suzaku's chest, but Suzaku refused to let out of Rai.

Rai glared up at Suzaku. Suzaku glared back.

"Don't know what you're talking about, Suzaku." Rai said angrily. "I've never met that bastard. I'm sure as hell no _terrorist_." Rai spat out the last word darkly.

Suzaku looked hesitant, as if he were wondering if he were wrong. Rai thought of something, and then looked at Suzaku with wide eyes.

"You think that I'm Akuma because I was friends with Scott, don't you?" Rai 'guessed'. "Suzaku, I stopped being friends with him when I found out that he was in league with the Black Knights. I'd never have anything to do with people like that." Rai told Suzaku. Suzaku frowned slightly, but relaxed his grip on Rai.

"But you disappeared at the same time Akuma did. And Scott had taken Akuma away…there had been an odd green light, and then the two of them were gone." Suzaku said.

"I don't know why Scott was hanging around Akuma, but I was taken back to the Homeland by the triplets. Trust me, they had way too much fun sneaking pass the Black Knights and nicking me from the dorms." Rai said the last part with a chuckle.

"Why didn't you call me then and tell me you were alright?" Suzaku asked. The look on his face…

_He was worried about me. _Rai thought in surprise. "The reason why I didn't call you, or any of the others afterwards was…I was being punished." Rai said. Suzaku looked Rai over, as if there might be a visible scar.

"Who would punish you, and why?" Suzaku asked. For a moment, Rai thought Suzaku sounded…protective?

"Don't worry, I'm fine. …Remember how I told you that I was forced to come to Area 11? Well…I lied. Back in the Homeland, there's this guy…he has a lot of political power, and a lot of money…and saying no to him can make a person's life a bit difficult. I came here, hoping that he'd just leave me alone, but no such luck. Scott and the triplets work for him. Scott was sent here by him to keep an eye on me. He wasn't happy when he found out Scott became friendly with the Black Knights, that's for sure. When the battle for the Tokyo Settlement started getting really bad, he sent Richard, Edward, and James to get me." Rai explained. "I'm sorry I lied to you before, but…" Rai looked away. "People tend to want nothing to do with me when they find out that I have an insane, powerful stalker who might hurt them if they get to close to me."

Suzaku wrapped his arms around Rai and pulled Rai close.

"It's alright, Rai. I'm sorry I accused you of being Akuma." Suzaku whispered into Rai's ear. "I'm glad that you're alright-."

"Hey~ Guest of Honors!" Milly suddenly rounded a corner and grabbed both of them by their upper arms. "Why are you two hiding back here? Come on!" Milly forced the two boys to follow her.

She took them to where the old Knightmare they were going to use to make the giant pizza was. Suzaku hopped up onto the folded up Knightmare. Milly sat on one of legs and Rai sat next to her. While Suzaku read whatever was on the clipboard that had been right next to him on the Knightmare, Milly played with Arthur the cat using her riding crop…Rai wondered why on earth she was holding such an item…Hopefully it was because it went with her outfit.

Suzaku began to update Milly about how some people they knew were doing.

"They've confirmed that the Guren Mark II is there." Suzaku told Milly, talking about how the Black Knights were hiding out in an embassy right now. "I assume that Kallen's in the consulate building."

"I see." Milly sighed. "It's hard to judge her. They call themselves resistance fighters, but still…"

"Nina's doing well." Suzaku said as he dipped a quill he had with him into an ink well. All of that stuff had been there waiting for him, since he was the one who would pilot the Knightmare. She just presented a thesis at the Science Academy."

"I wonder if she's trying to prefect the Ganymede." Milly said.

"Don't know," Suzaku confessed. "Unlike Lloyd and Cecile, Nina's specialty is-." Suzaku stopped himself. Milly stopped playing with Arthur, resting the crop on her lap. Arthur looked at her dejectedly.

"Has Earl Asplund…Happened to mention me?" Milly asked Suzaku hesitantly.

"Afraid not." Suzaku told her.

"Maybe he was overwhelmed." Milly guessed. "The wedding was put off because I had to repeat school."

"T-the thing with him is," Suzaku said, turning to face Milly. Milly looked up at him. Suzaku waved the feathered quill as he talked…which wasn't smart to do with a bored cat around… "So many things are wrong with him as a human being-."

That's when Arthur leapt and attacked Suzaku's quill. Arthur grabbed it with his mouth jumped back down. He ran away as Suzaku tried to get the quill back. "Arthur!" Suzaku yelled as he jumped off the Knightmare to chase the cat. "That was Euphie's!" Suzaku dropped the clipboard as he ran after the cat.

"Suzaku," Milly yelled, getting up and running after Suzaku. "You're one of the guests of honor! You have to wait here, you can't run off like that!"

Rai laughed quietly. Suddenly he heard footsteps. He looked and saw a guy with blonde hair that was cut short in the front, but was put in a few braids in the back, bend over and pick up the clipboard.

"What have we here?" Gino Weinberg wondered as he picked up the clipboard. "They're using a Knightmare to create a giant pizza?" he asked incredulously. Rai blinked at his odd outfit. Gino was wearing a white shirt with no sleeves, under a maroon light weight vest…under a body length no sleeves blue vest thing with black pants and white shoes.

The girl next to Gino was wearing a long sleeved red shirt, under a pink dress, with white and pink striped stockings and pink shoes. Her pink hair was up in a green bow, with some bangs framing her face. Rai remembered that her name was Anya Alstreim.

"Yeah, I know it's weird, but Milly, the Student Council President, likes to make everything a big theatrical show." Rai said, getting up from where he was sitting.

"Sounds like fun!" Gino said cheerfully. Rai chuckled.

"My name's Bakura, Rai, what's yours?" Rai asked them.

"My name's Gino Weinberg, and this is Anya Alstreim. It's nice to meet you, Rai." Gino said, walking up and shaking Rai's hand. "Do you think it'd be alright if I make the pizza using the Knightmare?" Gino asked.

"Well, Suzaku's supposed to-." Rai tried to say.

"Oh I'm a much better pilot than Suzaku, so I'm sure it'd be fine!" Gino said, interrupting Rai. Gino jumped onto the Knightmare and figured out how to unfold it. "Wonderful! The keys are already right here!" Gino started it up and zoomed pass Rai and Anya without another word.

"…That's not going to end well." Rai said, sighing.

"Most likely not." Anya agreed. She took a picture of Rai using her read and white little diary thing.

~Page Break~

"That was _amazing_!" Richard exclaimed as he skipped into the house. Rai, Edward, and James rolled their eyes as they followed him.

"I take it that you guys had a good time at the festival?" Scott asked from the living room. He was watching something on the TV, but turned it off when the others walked into the room.

"Considering Richard danced with Milly…several times-." Rai started.

"And nearly got in a fist-fight with Rivalz because of it-." James continued with a sigh.

"I, personally, had a wonderful time!" Richard cheered, finishing the sentence for Rai and James. Scott laughed. "Oh, and some guy named Gerard or something flirted with Rai." Richard added. Rai punched him hard.

"He did not! _Gino_ was just being nice!" Rai said, blushing slightly. "Besides, I'm sure he's straight." Richard snorted.

"Uh huh, I've never met a straight guy who asked _another guy_ to dance, and then dance as physically close as he did with you." Richard said. "That's not being nice, that's _hitting _on someone."

"So Rai had a nice time as well?" Scott asked with a snicker.

"Well, James also had fun." Rai said, changing the subject. "He and a girl named Anya looked like they were having a nice chat while everyone else was dancing." This time James blushed. Richard grabbed James and started giving him a noogie.

"Aw, my little brother's got a girlfriend!" Richard teased.

"I'm only a few minutes younger than you!" James argued. Edward smacked Richard upside the head.

"Leave him alone, dumbass." Edward told Richard. Richard then quickly turned around and tried to tackle Edward, only to Edward to step out of the way and trip Richard, sending him sprawling to the floor. James smoothed out his hair while his two brothers began fighting.

"Would you two cut it out, we don't want the neighbors to call the cops or anything!" Rai scolded them. Richard pouted, even though Edward was sitting on him and twisting his arm behind his back. Edward released Richard and got off of him.

"I would have totally kicked your ass." Richard grumbled to Edward. Edward simply grunted and rolled his eyes.

Rai walked into the kitchen and got an apple out of the fridge. He washed it and then went back into the living room. He sat with Scott and James on the couch, while Richard and Edward sat in the two armchairs. Rai bit into his apple, happy that Scott had bought his favorite kind (Granny Smiths).

"What are we going to do after our little plan tomorrow?" Scott asked.

"We'll need to find a way to make our 'group' known to the Black Knights. Scott, after James dressed as 'Akuma' escapes with you, he'll take you to the hiding place we'll agreed one. Next you'll disguise yourself as 'Akuma' and take the Knightmare, and then you'll go to that place where the Black Knights are hanging out and sneak in. Considering you made the Knightmare fly up fairly high when we were practicing…not that you actually meant to, but that doesn't matter-if you do what you did before, again, then you'll be able to get the Knightmare over the wall and into the compound. Since Rai's already contacted C.C. and gotten her okay, you won't have to worry about getting shot by the Black Knights, they'll already know you're coming and will help you the best that they can." Richard paused for a moment and looked at Rai. "I'm still amazed that you convinced her not to tell Lelouch about this." Rai shrugged.

"She said she doesn't mind, she might be his partner in crime, but she's still an individual person." Rai said.

"Anyway, Scott, you're going to be staying there for a while, at least as long as the Black Knights are there." Richard continued. "While you're with them, you'll have to make them believe that our group is on the fence about who we want to align with-but that working with the Black Knights is not something we're opposed to. Before that, however, you'll have to make them believe that it would be in their best interest to be on our good side. Do you think you can do that?" Scott thought about it, and then nodded.

"We'll have to have evidence that we're a powerful organization, though. Just our stunt tomorrow will not be enough." Scott pointed out. "Just having the Black Knights and the Britannians vaguely know about us, won't make either side very interested."

"I don't think we should make ourselves known well by the general public." James suggested. "We should be seen by them an organization that is quiet, but can change the tide of a war very easily in our own favor. Actually the least both sides know about us, the better."

"So any evidence of us should actually be vague and make them wonder if we really exist?" Rai asked James. James nodded.

"If we made ourselves out to be a loud, showy group, then the general public will notice us-it will cause us to have to try and show more numbers in our group than we actually have. But if we make any information about our group scarce-act almost like ghosts-then both sides will wonder how we were able to do whatever we pleased without either of them noticing. They'll actually be intimidated that we are able to reveal only a few of our numbers, and only because we _wanted_ to." James explained.

"There is the possibility that they will be interested in trying to get 'the secretive group that can come and go like ghosts' on their sides." Richard agreed.

"Then we'll only do a few stunts, but not all of them should have to do with Area 11, we don't want to appear to have a single interest or location." Rai offered. The others agreed.

"If we do that, then we'll need someone to go the other world powers as well." Richard said.

"After tomorrow, I could go to the Chinese Federation, make a small bit of noise, and introduce our group to the leaders." James suggested.

"Good idea." Rai agreed. "I think that you, Richard, should go to the Euro Universe and plant some evidence that our group has fiddled a little around in that area of the world." Rai said. Richard grinned, seeming to like the idea of running around and causing a bit of mischief.

"I should also go to the Middle Eastern Federation and dabble in that country." Richard said.

"I think we should leave Australia alone, though, since it's a neutral country and we don't want to start anything big that we would not be able to finish." James supplemented.

"How 'bout I stay here with Rai, since King would murder us if he found out we left 'im alone. I can still work on the Britannians while I'm babysittin'." Edward said. Rai glared at him.

"I don't need to be babysat!" Rai said, offended. The others looked at him in disbelief.

"This is coming from the guy who now has a _metal shoulder_ because he was out of my sight for a short amount of time!" Scott scoffed. Rai crossed his arms over his chest and scowled at everyone.

"…Whatever…" Rai mumbled under his breath in irritation.

"Okay so it's settled then. I'm going to work on the Euro Universe and the Middle Eastern Federation, as well as try to get on the good side of the Britannian high society. Edward will work on Suzaku and the Britannian military. Scott will work on the Black Knights. James will work the Chinese Federation. And Rai will work on Lelouch himself, as well as Suzaku." Richard summarized. Rai suddenly got an idea.

"I'll also find people who would be willing to work for us. We can't just always go shopping at Minions-R-Us; we'll need more people than we've got right now." Rai suggested. The others agreed.

"Good, now that we have that all straighten out." Richard said as he stood up and stretched. "We need to get going."

Since tomorrow Richard was going to 'give' Scott to Prince Schneizel, Richard, Scott and James needed to leave that night. They would first have to go get the old Knightmare from the island and take it to the hiding place they had set up and James would stay there until he was supposed to 'rescue' Scott. Next Richard and Scott would have to meet up with the goons that they hired at a meeting place in what would be Russia, and then they would have to fly back to (On a rather expensive and fancy looking airplane Scott bought. Apparent Rai had been wrong when he thought that Scott had spent all of his money) Area 11, where the meeting place with Prince Schneizel was. Rai and Edward would stay in Area 11, and would hang out somewhere very public.

"Maybe ya outta ask Lelouch or Suzaku to join us on our outtin'." Edward teased Rai.

"Or maybe you should ask both of them, wouldn't that be an interesting day!" Scott laughed. Rai gave them both annoyed looks.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thanks to WhiteAngel128, Bright Blade7, Frieda, Anubis9 lord of death, and AyameRose. **

Richard smiled politely as he stood before the mercenaries scattered in the cushiony armchairs on the plane. From the way that they had been acting, the mercenaries certainly did not expect the mini-refrigerators full of snacks and drinks.

"Damn, are we on a job, or on vacation?" One of the mercenaries said with a barking laugh. His hair was a fiery red, but was cut very short. Richard recalled that his name was Fion McDonnell. McDonnell was a bit short, but very muscular. He was the leader of the goons that Scott had hired. Scott had used a voice changer to disguise his voice, so the mercenaries had no idea that the person they were helping escort to be put in jail was the same person who hired them.

"My employer can be generous when he wishes to be." Richard told McDonnell, who was sitting the closest to Richard.

"No shit." McDonnell muttered. He took a swig of the vodka he had found in one of the mini-fridges.

"Who is this big hot-shot anyway? Is it da person who called McDonnell? And why did you fellas need _twenty_ of us to guard one prisoner?" Another mercenary asked. To Richard's surprise, McDonnell chucked an empty bottle at the man who had spoken.

"Shad up, O' Riley!" McDonnell ordered. "It ain't none of our business…As long as we get paid, of course."

The other mercenaries, including O' Riley, laughed with McDonnell.

"Listen up everyone; I want to go over the plan." Richard said, raising his voice so that they all could hear him. All of the mercenaries looked at Richard. "You'll be in groups of five. One group will be on the north side of the meeting area, while another will be on the south side and a third group will be on the west side. The last group will be with me, escorting our prisoner. The reason for this is that one of my…acquaintances, from Area 11 tipped me off that someone might try and free the prisoner in the middle of the exchange." Richard explained.

The mercenaries talked quietly amongst themselves at that.

"So you want us to stop anyone who tries to attack during the exchange?" McDonnell asked. Richard nodded. "Do you know if it's going to be one single person, or a whole group?" McDonnell inquired.

"I don't know." Richard lied. "My acquaintance couldn't get a hold of that piece of information."

"We'll just have to wait an' see, then." McDonnell said. Richard nodded.

~Page Break~

Richard, McDonnell, Scott, and four others stepped out of the plane and walked towards where the Britannians were waiting. Two nameless mercenaries were holding Scott by his upper arms. Scott was in shackles, and yet still smiling cheerfully.

Richard noticed that a good distance away, there was a group of reporters. He wasn't surprised, after all Scott had been a very famous celebrity.

Prince Schneizel stepped forward, along with a small group of Britannian soldiers. The two groups stopped about ten feet away from each other.

"Hello Schneizel~" Scott called out. One of the soldiers glared at Scott.

"How dare you speak to His Majesty like that?" The soldier shouted. Schneizel silenced him with a wave.

"It's been a long time, Scott." Schneizel greeted. "It's a shame that we didn't meet again under better circumstances." Schneizel then looked at Richard and the mercenaries. "Which one of you is the one who contacted me?" he asked. Richard stepped forward.

"I am." Richard said. He bowed to the prince. "My employer was most…displeased when he found out that Scott had associated himself with such a group as the Black Knights without his consent." Richard told Schneizel. Schneizel raised an eyebrow at what Richard said.

"Do you mean that your employer would have permitted it?" Schneizel asked. Richard shrugged.

"I don't claim to know everything that goes on in my employer's head. All I can say is that he finds the Black Knights to be…amusing. However, he does not officially approve of them." Richard said carefully.

"'Officially'?" Schneizel repeated. Richard smiled politely at the prince.

"My employer isn't totally opposed to dealing with newborn countries, and the United States of Japan could potentially be a strong ally-that is of course, if the Black Knights prove themselves to be more than just a lowly terrorist organization." Richard said. His face was beginning to hurt from all the 'polite smiling' he was forced to do at the moment.

"You dare-?" Another Britannian soldier started. A look from Prince Schneizel made the solder go quiet.

"It's good to see that your country has the respect of its military officers." Richard observed. "Perhaps if Britannia could have respect from the civilians of its territories, it wouldn't have the problem it is facing now."

"Bah, the Elevens just won't except that they've lost! They have no respect for their betters!" One soldier scoffed. This time Richard raised an eyebrow.

"That sort of thinking is the reason why so many 'Elevens' rally behind Zero. They have no reason to respect the authority Britannia has over them because _they_ are not treated with respect." Richard said. When the Britannian soldiers looked at him in anger Richard simply shrugged. "I am simply quoting my employer." Richard told them. Prince Schneizel watched Richard carefully, as if studying a specimen that he was interested in, but also confused by.

Richard nodded to the two mercenaries holding Scott, and they shoved Scott into the Britannian solders. The soldiers quickly grabbed onto Scott, making sure that he couldn't escape. "That concludes our business. Goodbye, Prince Schneizel." Richard bided farewell. He turned on his heel and began walking away, the mercenaries following.

"Wait," Schneizel said. Richard and the five mercenaries stopped. Richard looked back at Schneizel without turning around. "What about the reward? Do you not wish to collect it?"

Although it would be useful, Richard and the others had agreed to act as if they did not need the money, nor care for it. So Richard shrugged again.

"Write the check out to McDonnell here." Richard said, pointing at McDonnell. When the mercenaries gawked at him, Richard smirked. "I told you that my employer was generous, didn't I?" Richard reminded them. McDonnell and the mercenaries gave Richard shit-eating grins.

However, before they could be given the money, there was a ground-shaking explosion. O' Riley, who was in the south group, came running towards them. He was holding his shoulder; it was obvious that he was injured.

"A Knightmare's coming!" O' Riley shouted, since he was still pretty far away.

"How'd it get so close without us noticing?" One of the Britannian soldiers yelled, pulling out his gun. The other soldiers and mercenaries followed suit.

"Prince Schneizel, it is not safe here, we have to leave!" One of Prince Schneizel's body guards shouted. Before he could leave, James came into view in the Knightmare.

"Good afternoon, Britannian scum!" James cackled, using the voice changer that made him sound like 'Akuma'. Richard was impressed that his quiet, friendly brother could sound so unhinged.

"Akuma the Hellhound! Here?" One of the mercenaries yelped. Apparently Rai's 'character' was very well known.

A couple of Britannian Knightmares attacked James, but James was able to shoot one down and his Knightmare (although Richard knew it was accidental) jumped into the air and landed feet first on the top of the other. James then snatched up Scott from the scattering soldiers. The mercenaries tried to stand their ground, but were knocked away with a swipe of James' Knightmare's hand.

James took Scott and quickly fled the scene. Richard smiled the annoying polite smile again at Prince Schneizel, whose hair was sticking up in places.

"Oh my, you couldn't even keep a hold of an unarmed prisoner for more than a minute." Richard said merrily. "That's rather depressing."

"What do you mean by that? You guys couldn't stop Akuma either!" A soldier snapped at Richard. Richard shook his head, while still smiling.

"The prisoner was in _your_ custody when Akuma attacked. It was no longer _our_ job to guard the prisoner." Richard pointed out.

"Such a petty technicality-!" The soldier started to growl.

"He's right." Schneizel said, interrupting the soldier. Everyone looked at the prince. "Scott was handed to us, they had already done what they were sent here to do, and it wasn't their fault that we were unable to stop Akuma from taking Scott." Schneizel turned to McDonnell. "You will still get your money, of course."

The mercenaries cheered. After getting their money from the irritated Britannians, they went back to the plane. Richard bowed to Prince Schneizel once again and walked back to the plane as well.

Richard saw the mercenaries talking to each other. O' Riley and a few others were patching up their wounds. No one had died, but knowing James he probably only injured them on purpose. James wasn't the type to kill needlessly.

"Shit, I didn't know that Akuma the Hellhound was going to show up!" One of the mercenaries exclaimed to the others.

"That Richard guy warned us that someone might try to interfere with the exchange." McDonnell reminded them.

"So," Richard said, calling attention to himself. "Where would you guys like to be dropped off?" Richard asked.

"The same place you picked us up will work." O' Riley told him. As Richard passed McDonnell, McDonnell grabbed Richard's arm.

"Hey, if you and your boss ever need some muscle again, you can call us again." McDonnell said. Richard grinned and nodded. "And about what you said out there, to that prince…Is that really what you're boss thinks of the Britannians?" McDonnell asked.

"Yeah, right now he's mildly annoyed by how the Britannians are treating the whole Black Knights situation." Richard said.

"…Then the next time you need us, there'll be no charge." McDonnell said. Richard frowned at him.

"Why would you do that?" Richard asked. McDonnell scoffed.

"Because your boss seems like an interesting guy, someone we wouldn't mind working for." McDonnell told Richard. Richard and McDonnell grinned at each other.

~Page Break~

Kallen stared at 'Akuma' in disbelief, her mouth opened as she gawked. Scott (who was disguised as 'Akuma') was tempted to say something flirtatious, but Rai told him that 'Akuma' would never do such a thing.

Tamaki actually draped an arm over Scott's shoulders.

"Long time no see, Akuma!" Tamaki shouted right in Scott's ear. Scott was tempted to hit Tamaki, but instead just grinned creepily at the man.

"Hi Tamaki, looks like a year in prison didn't affect you much." Scott said. Rai had described all of the Black Knights that he had knew personally and told Scott their names. Tamaki laughed at what Scott had said.

"Yeah, I'm still sharp as a tack!" Tamaki bragged.

_A very dull and bent tack, obviously…_ Scott thought, still grinning.

"Oh hey, I've gotta ask ya, why did that singer guy take you away in the middle of the battle? Man that was one bright light he used as a distraction. I couldn't see properly for a good minute!" Tamaki asked. Scott slipped out from under Tamaki's arm and shrugged as he continued down the hall that he, Kallen, Tamaki, and Ohgi were walking through.

"Scott Daemon and I used to work for the same person. However, I was…" Scott lightly touched the fake scar on his throat. "fired. Scott and I were good friends, so when he noticed the battle for the Tokyo Settlement wasn't going in the favor of the Black Knights; he decided that the two of us should…take a bit of a vacation elsewhere." Scott explained. He then frowned darkly, pretending to be annoyed…with himself… "Trust me, I would have rather fight to the death against those Britannian maggots, than run away like a pathetic coward."

Of course, that wasn't true. Scott would much rather save his own neck than die in a battle, for he didn't see the point in dying if there was a chance that you could live and defeat your opponent some other day.

However, the Black Knights believed what Scott told them.

"Who was it that you used to work for?" Kallen asked, frowning at Scott. Scott smirked at her.

"It is bad luck to say the name of my former employer." Scott said as he shook his head.

"That's ridiculous!" Kallen said to Scott in annoyance. Scott shrugged.

"Scott and I are the only _living_ people who are no longer working for _Him_. Anyone else who's a 'former employee' is dead and buried." Scott told her.

"If that's how he deals with people who no longer work for him, I'd hate to see how he deals with a lover who wants to break up with him!" Kallen said, shivering slightly. Scott gave her a real grin then.

"Well, have you met a boy by the name Rai Winston, or as you most likely know him: Rai Bakura? The man Scott and I used to work for was…infatuated with him, still is too." Scott said with a chuckle. Kallen gapped at Scott.

"_Rai_?" She repeated. "The lunatic that nearly killed _you_ has a thing for _Rai_? You've got to be kidding me!" Tamaki and Ohgi looked at her in confusion.

"Who's Rai Winston or Bakura or whatever his name is?" Tamaki asked. Kallen turned to him.

"He's a guy who goes to Ashford Academy. He was on the Student Council with me." Kallen told Tamaki and Ohgi. "I never thought that he of all people would have anything remotely to do with someone like Akuma!" Kallen said. She glanced at Akuma. "No offense." She said to him. Scott laughed loudly, since Rai _was_ Akuma.

"None taken." Scott assured Kallen. They finally reached the room they had been walking towards. Tamaki and Ohgi continued on, while Kallen and Scott entered the room.

"Hello, C.C." Scott greeted. C.C. looked up from her pizza. She didn't look fazed to see Scott, of course she already knew that Scott was coming.

"Hello Akuma. How was your little 'rescue' of Scott Daemon?" C.C. asked. Kallen looked at her in confusion.

"'Rescue'?" Kallen repeated.

"Oh, on my way here, I saved Scott (who had been captured a week ago) from being given to the Britannians to be put in jail and or executed." Scott giggled. "He's in a safe place now." C.C. nodded in understanding.

"It was on the news. Apparently a camera crew found their way to the place of the exchange and got it all on tape…Although they were too far away too hears what was being said." C.C. told Scott. "I see that you learned how to pilot a Knightmare."

"Only well enough to barrel through my enemies." Scott said. He giggled again. Kallen rolled her eyes.

~Page Break~

"It's clear from your vacant expressions; the lights are not all on upstairs-." Rai had finally gotten the actual recordings of certain songs to use as ringtones. So instead of his own border-line girly voice, Rai heard the deep voice of the man who voice-acted Scar in the Lion King.

Rai frown as his phone rang. He was at the mall, as he had been all day…and was now thinking about changing his phone number.

"What's up Lelouch? The only time you call me is when you're mad at me about something silly." Rai said. He sat on a bench away from where everyone was walking.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Lelouch demanded. He wasn't yelling, but the growl in Lelouch's voice definitely proved he wasn't a very happy camper at the moment.

_Yikes, he sounds _really_ angry…_ Rai contemplated just hanging up, but decided that wouldn't fix anything and just make Lelouch more upset. "Wow, I was right, you _are_ mad. Now as for your question, I'm sitting on a bench and wondering if I have enough money to go back to the arcade again for a while, but still be able to get that one book I really wanted-."

"Shut up!" Lelouch snapped. "You know I don't mean that!" Rai hummed tunelessly at that.

"I don't know that you're talking about then." Rai said.

"I'm talking about how _you're on the news_!" Lelouch said, and Rai could hear that he had slammed his fist on a table.

Rai knew that Lelouch meant that he had seen 'Akuma' on the news.

"I still don't know what you're talking about, Lelouch. I've been here at the mall all day and I haven't been paying attention to the new feeds. Oh speaking of which, have you seen that new movie about-." Rai was going to start talking about an awesome movie he had seen earlier that day about a mutated frog and a former pro-wrestler and how they-.

Rai was cut off by Lelouch's frustrated sigh.

"If that wasn't Rai, then who was it?" Lelouch muttered, talking to himself.

"Lelouch, what's going on?" Rai asked. Lelouch seemed to hesitate for a moment before answering.

"Nothing important. I'll talk with you later; right now I have some business to take care of." Lelouch told Rai. Before Rai could respond, Lelouch hung up.

_Uh oh…I think I should warn Scott before Lelouch gets to him._ Rai thought. From how Lelouch was acting, Rai figured he was going to go have a 'talk' with whoever was the 'Akuma' imposter. Rai quickly went into a restroom and hid in one of the stalls. He then pulled out a piece of paper that he was carrying. On the paper was Rai's cheat sheet for the Code that the Avery children had made up. _Okay so if I want to say 'Be careful, Lelouch is coming for you…Get your mind out of the gutter Scott, you pervert. And don't look him in the eyes.' It would be…_

It took Rai a few minutes to figure it out, but he finally sent Scott the warning text. The reply text Rai got back basically said that Rai 'was no fun, but thanks for the heads up ;)'.

Rai sighed and left the restroom. He then contemplated how much money he had left out of what he had brought with him and decided that he did, indeed, have enough to go to the arcade for a bit, but still get the book he wanted. Smiling at the thought of hopefully actually getting pass the first level of the racing game he tried earlier.

Just then, Rai's phone rang again.

"Just dance, gonna be okay, da da doo-doo-mmm-." It was Richard.

"I still don't know why you put that on my phone." Rai said to Richard instead of 'hello'.

"Because I love that song!" Richard cheered, surprisingly well aware of what Rai was talking about. "Any way, guess what?"

"What?" Rai asked, continuing to walk to the arcade.

"That Prince Schneizel fellow's trying to find information on our group!" Richard told Rai, sounding excited. Richard acted like a hyper-active puppy most of the time.

"Already? That's weird." Rai frowned. They had figured Schneizel would get curious, but Rai had believed that no one would try to look them up until they had done a little bit more. Then he grinned at a silly thought. "Maybe he wants your phone number or something." Rai joked.

"He'll be very disappointed then." Richard scoffed. Richard was one hundred percent straight-a lover of women…every last one of them apparently… Rai laughed.

"What do you think he'll do when he can't find out anything about us?" Rai asked.

"He might try to find me, since I'm the only one in our group he's actually met. You shouldn't worry about it, though. Prince Schneizel's most likely just going to half-heartily look for us, and then go back to thinking about more important things. I don't think we made a big impression on him just yet-we only did enough to make him raise an eyebrow, really." Richard assured Rai. Then Richard snickered. "I tell you what, though. When James came busting in like a bat out of hell, even _Schneizel_ looked a little freaked. Man, what did you _do_ as 'Akuma' to scare the piss out of so many people?" Richard asked.

"I acted like I was a member of _your_ family." Rai deadpanned.

Richard roared with laughter. "So, tomorrow you and James are going to tell everyone at school that you guys have to 'take an emergency leave of absence' from school, right?" Rai asked.

"Yep." Richard confirmed. "Then I'm going to leave for the Euro Universe after going back to the house to pick up my stuff (That's right, I need to pack when I get there later today) and James is going to go to the Chinese Federation."

"It's going to be strange at Ashford without you there to make Rivalz chase you down the hall shouting about how he'll have his revenge one of these days." Rai sighed. Richard laughed.

"I'll certainly miss Milly…and Shirley…and Ms. Villetta…and-." Richard listed off several people he would miss while he was gone…all of them being women. Rai rolled his eyes.

"Yes, well I guess you'll have to tell them that tomorrow." Rai said drily.

"Oh hey, do you know where Edward is by any chance?" Richard suddenly asked. "I tried to call him, but it went straight to voice-mail." Rai frowned as he tried to remember.

"Um…Ah, now I remember, he kind of got kidnapped by Lloyd this morning…I still don't know how Lloyd found out where we live…Anyway, Lloyd found out that Edward was 'interested' in joining the military and becoming a Knightmare pilot…and I really want to know how he found that out…So Lloyd pretty much ordered Edward to come with him. He said something about tests or something. I'm not all that sure because it was _really_ early in the morning and I was still half asleep." Rai told Richard.

"I wonder why that Lloyd guy would want Edward. There's probably a shitload of actual experience Knightmare pilots he could use as a test subject." Richard pondered.

"I think he said he wanted to test if Edward had the capability to be a good pilot. Something about needing a back up just in case Suzaku does something stupid and suicidal during a fight and actually dies…Lloyd's a bit inhuman when it comes to stuff like that." Rai said. "He can be a good guy, though, when he tries."

"From what you've told me, he certainly sounds like a cheerful mad scientist." Richard said, chuckling. "At least Edward's temperament is insanely mellow and he's used to people like that. Lloyd would have to be a serious pain in the ass to actually annoy my bro!" Richard sounded as if he were bragging.

"…You forgot another way for him to annoy Edward…or anyone for that matter." Rai said. "Have his name be Richard Avery!" Rai hung up really quickly after saying that, but still heard some of the swear words Richard yelled at him.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: as AyameRose pointed out, Rai and his friends' group doesn't have a name yet. I haven't actually really picked one out yet (Because I have no freaking clue what to call it). I'd appreciate it if any of you could propose one. I'll give credit to the person if I chose theirs.**

**Thanks to Frieda, AyameRose, Bright Blade7, ZeroPanda, and WhiteAngel128. **

It was after school the next day. Rai sat on the couch. Edward had been kidnapped by Lloyd again, and since Scott was with the Black Knights, James was with the Chinese Federation, and Richard was in the Euro Universe, Rai had the whole house to himself.

So Rai had decided to use the opportunity to think up a list of people that he could possibly convince to join his, James, Edward, Scott, and Richard's group.

_Eventually, perhaps, we could try to convince Lelouch and Suzaku to join, but I'm not so sure. Lelouch wouldn't want to work for anyone, and to be honest he goes a bit crazy whenever he has power, so we wouldn't want him to lead us. However, we shouldn't rule out that he could possibly actually join us under the right circumstances. Suzaku would be more willing, maybe, but I still don't think it'd be good to ask him any time soon. C.C.'s a good ally and she's already proven she doesn't mind helping us out a bit, but she _is_ Lelouch's partner. If we ask her to join us, we should wait for quite a while to do so and make sure we haven't somehow turned into an enemy of Lelouch. _Rai picked at a loose thread in his sock as he thought. He hated it when that happened because if he pulled out the loose thread, then an annoying hole would appear in his sock, but if he didn't, then it was like the loose thread was _taunting_ him-daring him to pull it out.

…maybe he was thinking too much about the thread, and not enough on what he should be working on.

_Kallen would actually be a good idea, I think, but it could be difficult. She's very loyal to Lelouch (to the Black Knights, really), and convincing her wouldn't be easy-if it's at all possible. If anything, we'd have to get all the other Black Knights to join us before even trying to ask her if she'd think about it. I don't think it'd be a good idea to get the Black Knights to join us any time soon because of Lelouch. Lelouch would most likely panic if his main force was taken from him-and a scared Lelouch is a very dangerous one. If we really want them to join, we should wait until Schneizel reveals Lelouch's true identity to the Black Knights-and _that's_ only if we haven't already pretty much taken over the world. _Rai decided it would be a good idea to go grab a can of tuna and eat it. Fish is supposed to be brain-food, after all. He got up from the couch and went to the kitchen.

_There's no way in the fiery pits of hell that Rolo would join our group. He's obsessed with Lelouch, and I'm pretty sure he hates my guts. V.V. hasn't heard of us yet and he wouldn't ever join our group. Most likely V.V. would just find a way to use us. So that also rules out the Emperor and Lelouch and Nunnally's mother. Speaking of Nunnally, if we found a way to contact her, and explain what we're trying to do, I'm sure she'd be happy to join us. She cares deeply for her brother, but wouldn't approve of the violent way he's going about things…I'll talk with the others about it, but I think it'd be good to approach her. _Rai nodded to himself as he got a can of tuna out of the cabinet and plugged in the electric can opener. He smiled as the can opener made a whirling-humming sound as it worked.

_Should we consider the Ashford Academy Student Council? Each of them would be beneficial to our group. Milly's a wonderful leader and could motivate people just as well as Lelouch, she could possibly be even better at it (I just can't see Zero convincing a group of people to chase after a cat quite like Milly did). Rivalz is good at following instructions (especially if Milly's the one giving orders) so he shouldn't be ruled out. Nina (although she's actually graduated right now) would be a _very_ useful person, and although she was annoying in the first season, she's actually better in the second season. She would be hard to convince, what with her mild xenophobia and also how Euphemia was murdered-that would make her at least hesitant to join a group who's not necessarily Britannians. If I tell her the truth about how Euphemia died, I think that I'd be able to convince her to join us. What about Shirley, though? I don't really see how she would be of use to us. She's a wonderful person, but in a military(-ish) organization, she wouldn't be able to do much. I don't want her to be killed by Rolo though, which could happen if an eye isn't kept on both of them. If anything, we shouldn't ask her to join us, but I'm going to ask the others if it's okay if we kind of act as bodyguards for the girl. I mean, considering how many times she's been in serious almost deadly situations, she really shouldn't be left alone. _The can was now open, so Rai sat at one of the stools at the island in the middle of the kitchen. He got back up, however, when he forgot a fork.

_What about the Ninja-Maid? Her name's…Oh yeah, Sayoko something. I don't remember how loyal she is to Lelouch, but if I recall correctly, she also works for Diethard right now. Ugh, Diethard the Retard. Well, I'll ask the others if we want to think about asking her. Diethard has the potential to be handy, but he'd want to make us known if he worked with us, and we don't want that-we want the opposite. So I'll tell the other's that, but it is overall a group decision, of course. _Rai sat back down after finding a clean fork. The dishes really needed to be done…

_If I think about the Black Knight individually, instead of as a whole, then I think it'd be ideal if Ohgi joined us. Perhaps if we convince Villetta Nu to join us (Considering her great…dislike for Lelouch that should be relatively easy, in actuality) then he could be tempted to join us. Tamaki is most definitely _not_ someone we should try to get. He's far too loyal to Zero and far too rash (we already have Scott and Richard, thank you very much). Also, he tried to kill innocent freaking _high school students_! Just because they were Britannians! We just wouldn't be able to trust him to follow orders. Also, it's not like he's a very good soldier any way. Maybe the kickass fighters who used to be part of the JLF? Tohdoh and his group would be great! I don't know for certain if they would be willing to leave the Black Knights, though. We should have Scott poke at them a bit at least. I'm not sure if we should bother with the Six Houses of Kyoto, though. The one little girl is very loyal to Lelouch and the other members are cowardly little pigs (that's just my opinion, of course). We'd be in great standing if we could get Rakshata! However, if we want Lloyd at all in our group, it'd be hard to get them to work together…But damn, if they could work together, they'd be able to make an unstoppable Knightmare, that's for sure. _Rai almost ate a bit of tuna, but then put it back down when he decided that he wanted some milk as well. He went to the fridge and pulled out the milk jug.

_Now how about any Britannians? I think Cornelia would actually be okay with working with us. She's not really racist; she just hates…well just about everyone…wow we'd be screwed if we had Richard asked her. She'd probably kill him after dealing with him for a very short time. We wouldn't be able to have James ask her, because she would consider James weak. Scott would also piss her off. She would consider me weak as well…That really leaves Edward. I believe Edward would be able to at least give her the proposition without immediately dying. I've seen him fall of a mountain side (And this was in the real world-no anime physics involved) and simply get back up and attempt to climb back up the mountain (his brothers stopped him). Are any of the other members of the Royal family a possibility? Well, as terrified as I am of Schneizel, he would be a good person to have. At least in this series, he's not actually necessarily _evil_ and he tries to help the world. My only problem is that…he's creepy. I mean, who could possibly be _that_ perfect? No one, that's who! Not to mention this is the kind of guy that _Scott_ was with! That's a big red flag right there! …Anyway, none of the other princes or princesses are really we would want/need in any way. I mean, unless we need someone to politically marry off to a _little girl_, then we could give that one guy a call. _Rai once again sat back down after obtaining a glass of milk.

_Other than Suzaku, who else in the Knights of the Round, the group of people who are pretty much the Emperor attack dogs, would even consider joining us? Gino might possibly, as he doesn't seem all that necessarily loyal to the Emperor himself but to Britannia as a whole. Since we're not trying to bring down the Empire, but are trying to make peace, he most likely won't have any problems with us. Although he won't automatically join us, actually most likely he'll politely refuse. It'd still be good if we approached him, I think. Anya might join us, after Lelouch's mother stops possessing her. We wouldn't be able to ask Anya until then. Maybe if we find a way to free her, Anya will be willing to work with us, although she is also very loyal to Britannia…now that I think of it, I don't suppose the Emperor would chose someone to be a Knight of the Round if they weren't very loyal to his country. The Knight of One would most certainly not join us. He'd try to kill us, most likely. Luciano is a psychopath and we our 'leader' already has that covered. I don't know enough about the others to believe they would join us. _Rai ate a bit of tuna, and then drank half of the glass of milk.

_While James is in the Chinese Federation, I think he should try and befriend Li Xingke and the Empress. _

_Is there anyone else? Oh, there's Jeremiah, who I hope never meets the triplets any time soon because they would turn his hair orange the first chance they got. He'll be too loyal to Lelouch. Anyone who would be loyal to Lelouch is someone we should touch unless we have Lelouch on our side. We would have the knights who are loyal to Cornelia if we got her to join. Lloyd and Cecile are people we should try very hard to get. They aren't very loyal to the Britannian Empire, and they are both very intelligent. If Schneizel joined we would have anyone loyal to him…which would actually be quite a few people, considering his charisma. _Rai finished his food and drink, and then placed the fork and glass in the sink after rinsing them off…the dishes _really_ needed to be done. The pile of dishes in each sink was almost as tall as Rai was. For a moment, Rai wondered why Scott had bought so much dishware. Then he remembered that none of them liked doing the dishes…which was probably Scott's reasoning.

_So that means that Nunnally, Lelouch, Suzaku, C.C., Cornelia, Schneizel, Villetta, Ohgi, Li Xingke, The Empress of the Chinese Federation, the Student Council of Ashford Academy are the main people we could try. While the Black Knights as a whole, Gino, Anya, Tohdoh and the Holy Swords, and Sayoko the Ninja-Maid are people we might attempt. _Rai sighed out loud. _Great, now I have a headache. Oh well, might as well contact the others and see what they think. _Rai stuck his tongue at the sink full of dishes and walked back into the living room.

He pulled out his cell phone.

Now, back at Lucifer's Academy, Aden Avery was very good with technology…he of course, rarely used it for anything that could be considered good…or legal…But the reason why Aden's techno-savvy-ness was important at the moment, was that he fiddled with Rai, Scott, and the other Avery children's cell phones. Aden had done something to them (however, he refused to tell them why or how) that made it so that they would never have to pay for another cell phone plan ever again. Basically, the cell phone itself would hack into the nearest cell tower and allow the user to call or text whoever they wanted. It was very illegal, but then again, it was _Aden_ who did it. Aden also made some kind of program that was like a chat-room, only for select people in the person's contacts. So Rai was now able to have a conversation with the others, at the same time.

**Rai: You guys okay? Everyone got to where they were supposed to without dying?**

There was a moment's pause before he got an answer.

**Richard: I'm okay. Has Milly asked how I'm doing yet?**

**Edward: You've only been gone for a little while you idiot, of course she hasn't asked about you.**

**Scott: Ha, ha, ha!**

**Richard: Oh screw off you two!**

**James: I'm doing just fine. How are you Rai?**

**Rai: Great. I got a list together of who we could try to get on our team.**

**James: That's good.**

**Richard: Cool.**

**Scott: Fun.**

**Edward: Who's on it?**

**Rai: Lelouch, Suzaku, Lelouch's little sister Nunnally, C.C., Cornelia, Schneizel, Villetta, Ohgi, Li Xingke, the Empress of the Chinese Federation, and the Student Council at Ashford are the main ones. There are some others, but they would be very difficult and/or most likely to refuse us. **

**Richard: Why the Student Council?**

**James: They're just civilians.**

**Rai: They might just be civilians, but they also would be valuable to us. Milly's a good leader, Rivalz a good follower, and Nina's a freakily good scientist. Also, Shirley's a target for attempted murder it seems, so we really ought to protect her. Especially since Rolo will try to kill her. **

**Edward: I agree. **

**Rai: I'd go after all of these people myself, but I don't have any connections anywhere. **

**Richard: That's okay. Each of us will approach people we can get to.**

**James: Do you think I should try to get on the good side of the Empress of the Chinese Federation? **

**Rai: Yes, also Li Xingke is basically her **_**extremely**_** protect bodyguard. He's a fantastic Knightmare pilot as well as a master strategist. **

**James: He sounds scary, but I'll do my best.**

**Richard: I'll work on Cornelia, Schneizel, and Nunnally, then.**

**Rai: NO!**

**Scott: Hell no!**

**James: That's a bad idea.**

**Edward: A **_**really**_** bad idea.**

**Richard: What? What's wrong with that?**

**Rai: Cornelia would **_**end**_** you. Nunnally wouldn't like you. And the only person who would stand you at all out of those three is Schneizel.**

**Richard: So just Schneizel then?**

**Edward: Yes**

**James: Yes**

**Rai: Yes**

**Scott: Awww, I wish I wasn't a wanted criminal. It would be so much fun to seduce Schneizel!**

**Rai:…**

**Richard:…**

**James:…**

**Edward:…**

**Rai: **_**Anyway**_**, Edward would be the best one for Cornelia.**

**James: Agreed.**

**Scott: Totally.**

**Edward: Alright then. **

**Richard: Rai could talk to Nunnally, since they're both little girls.**

**Rai: You can go to hell now Richard.**

**Richard: No I can't, my father would be annoyed that I came home from school so early.**

**James: Rai and Edward could both talk with Suzaku. Then Rai and Scott could talk with both C.C. and Lelouch.**

**Rai: That sounds good.**

**Scott: I'm okay with that.**

**Edward: Sure.**

**Rai: I'll work on Villetta and the Student Council. **

**Scott: Ohgi tends to avoid me, so he'd be difficult for me to approach.**

**Richard: Hey Rai, didn't you say something a little while ago about Villetta and Ohgi being together for a while in the first season?**

**Rai: Yeah.**

**Richard: Then work hard on Villetta. If you get her on our side, then get her to contact Ohgi and try to convince him.**

**Rai: Okay. **

**Scott: Anyone else we can work on after we've at least tried to get somewhere with the main ones.**

**Rai: Although I think that you, Scott, should kind of get a dialogue going with Tohdoh and his little group within the Black Knights. **

**Scott: You mean the really serious looking people? Yikes, well, I'll do my best. I think the one in the glasses dislikes 'Akuma' a lot. Man Rai, what did you do to these people? A good number of them nearly jump out of their skin when I accidently sneak up on them!**

**Richard: LOL!**

**Rai: I pretended to be an Avery.**

**Edward: …that would do it.**

**James: …yeah….**

**Richard: Now that that's settled, we shouldn't contact each other for a little while.**

**Scott: Yeah. The people we're around might get curious if they see us on our phones all the time.**

**James: It's never good to make people curious about things you might not be able to manipulate. **

**Rai: Right. **

**Edward: Let's 'chat' in a couple of weeks or so. Don't call each other unless it's an absolute emergency. **

**Richard: Hear from all of you later, then.**

**Scott: Bye**

**James: Goodbye.**

**Edward: See you.**

**Rai: Bye everyone.**

Rai closed his phone. He looked up curiously when there was a knock at the door. Rai walked into the hall and opened the door.

Lelouch looked at Rai with the most heart-breaking lost expression Rai had ever seen. Rai stepped aside and allowed Lelouch in. The two of them went into the living room.

Lelouch practically fell onto the couch and when Rai was walking pass him (heading to one of the armchairs) Lelouch grabbed Rai's arm and pulled the smaller boy on to his lap. Rai tried to stand back up, but Lelouch wrapped his arms around Rai's waist and held on tight.

Rai stopped struggling and let Lelouch bury his face in Rai's shoulder.

Nunnally had been sworn in as Viceroy the day that Richard and the mercenaries had 'tried' to give Scott to the Britannians. Rai knew that Lelouch was in pieces because of the announcement during school. Nunnally was going to restore the Specially Administrated Zone of Japan.

"Rai, who was it that disguised themselves as 'Akuma' in order to save Scott?" Lelouch asked quietly. Rai was surprised by the question. He had thought something like that would be the last thing on Lelouch's mind.

"I'm sorry Lelouch, but I have no clue. Isn't the person with the other Black Knights right now?" Rai lied. Lelouch grip on Rai tighten.

"No, apparently Scott and whoever saved him switched places at some point. Scott's pretending to be 'Akuma' right now…just like you said he would." Lelouch's tone sounded frighteningly dangerous. Lelouch lifted his head and looked at Rai.

Rai quickly broke eye contact the moment he noticed it.

"Scott said he would find a way to get into the Chinese Federation Consulate…I should have figured Scott would find the most dramatic and showy way to do it." Rai grumbled, pretending to be annoyed.

"…I see." Lelouch said, sounding a bit cold. There was an edge there that made the hairs on the back of Rai's neck stand up.

Rai tried again to get off of Lelouch. The next thing Rai knew, he was pinned to the couch seat with Lelouch straddling his legs.

"L-Lelouch! What are you doing?" Rai exclaimed. He struggled and tried to buck Lelouch off of him.

Lelouch leaned over, his face _very_ close to Rai's.

"Rai, Rolo's Geass worked on you." Lelouch stated. "That means you're not immune to all Geass users." Lelouch breath was warm on Rai's lips.

GONG! Lelouch's body suddenly jerked, and then slumped after the odd ringing noise. Rai quickly shoved Lelouch off of him. He looked up and saw Edward with a ridiculously bored expression on his face while looking down at Rai…

…And while hold a frying pan…

"Ya alrite?" Edward asked Rai.

"Yeah, thanks." Rai said. The two of them looked at Lelouch who was unconscious on the floor. Edward grunted.

"An' I thought _Scott_ was da one with relationship problems." Edward commented. Rai gave him an annoyed look.

"Very funny." Rai said sarcastically. Rai sighed, frowning at Lelouch. "He's going through a rough patch right now."

"He's gonna be goin' through an even tougher time if Derrick finds out." Edward told Rai.

"No, that's called 'being _dead_', and since I really don't want Lelouch to die, we'll just keep this to ourselves, okay?" Rai asked. Edward shrugged, but then nodded.

"If ya say so." Edward said.

There was another knock at the door. Rai answered it and saw Rolo.

"Hello, Rolo!" Rai said cheerfully. Rai's reaction to seeing Rolo unnerved the latter.

"Hello…is my brother here?" Rolo asked, frowning at Rai. Edward came from the living room, carrying Lelouch. He then shoved the unconscious boy into Rolo's arms. Surprisingly, Rolo was able to hold up Lelouch's weight. "Why is he unconscious?" Rolo demanded.

"He had a cooking accident." Edward told Rolo, having the same completely serious face he usually did. Rai was choked up with laughter, barely able to breathe.

Rolo looked at both of them suspiciously. He then nodded and left their house.

Rai and Edward lasted only a few seconds, before both of them cracked and laughed hysterically.

"You're _d-d-deadly_ with a f-frying pan!" Rai snickered. Edward, who was still holding the frying pan, smirked slightly.

Edward went back to being serious immediately afterwards.

"Do you think he would have actually used his Geass on you?" Edward asked. Rai shrugged.

"I don't _think _he would've. He was probably going to ask me why Mao's Geass didn't work on me, but Rolo's did." Rai told him. "Granted, Lelouch _does_ sometimes use his Geass for silly little things. Maybe he was going to make me do something weird-you never know with someone who is prone to emotional break downs whenever things don't go as planned…" Rai frowned for a moment. "…Are you sure that Lelouch isn't related to Derrick in any way?"

Edward rolled his eyes.

**A/N: Anyone who hasn't taken poll, please do so! :) **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I'm planning on doing a Q&A about this series so message or review any questions that you have. I'll answer just about any questions except for ones that could spoil the story. **

**Thanks to Bright Blade7, AyameRose, WhiteAngel128, Kiseki no Tenshi, cloveasmodeus, Frieda, Mangakitty222333, Raginbot7, Mark Twain II LoL, Pikapikaluv, The Decietful smile, Artemiy, Blackfire Kitsune, 3gypian-Panda, I Ran Over The Taco Bell Dog (well that wasn't very nice of you), and xXxFlaaffyxXx.**

It was later that night, and Rai was staring at the password panel. Unfortunately, Rai didn't have an ID card that would allow him to enter the security room of Ashford Academy.

_That's something useful that maybe Aden could make. I'll ask him when we get back home…if we ever go back._ For the past few days, Rai had been wondering if he wanted to go back to a normal (granted, as normal as things got for him) life-if he even _could_ go back to being a regular teenager again.

Rai ran a hand through is hair, realizing that he never did get it cut. His brown hair was now down to his shoulders, he was surprised that no one had pointed it out to him yet. _I should at least get a hair tie, that way no one confuses me for a girl…Richard would never let me live that down if such a thing happened. _

Rai shook his head, bringing himself back to the task at hand. He knew that Villetta was in the security room, and he thought now (while Lelouch and Rolo were both away helping the Black Knights against the surprise attack from Suzaku) would be the best time if he wanted to talk to her. Rai frowned at the password panel, and then randomly pressed several numbers.

Much to Rai's utter shock, the door actually accepted it, and opened. He walked into the room and Villetta Nu looked away from the large computer screen to look at Rai. She blinked in surprise.

"What are you doing here?" She demanded, going from startled to suspicious in a millisecond. Rai held up his hands, showing her that he was unarmed. The door closed behind him.

"Hey there's no need for that. I'm just here, following orders." Rai said. Before he could explain what he meant, Rai was staring cross-eyed at the barrel of the gun Villetta was pointing at him. Rai wondered how she got across the room so fast. "Not Lelouch's so chill out please!" Rai squeaked.

"Then you must be here on the government's orders-." Villetta tried to say. Rai shook his head.

"No-no-no, I'm not here on any orders from any organization that you've even heard of. I'm working for a very…private group." Rai said. "I was told to give you a proposition-."

"And what would that be?" Villetta asked, still glaring at Rai and not lowering her weapon. Rai took a deep breath before speaking.

"My employer would like you to work for us." Rai told her. "If you agree, then we assure you that you'll be protected from Lelouch and the Britannians. You will not have to worry about either faction coming after you for anything you've done in the past."

Villetta laughed at Rai.

"Does Lelouch think I'm stupid? I already know you work for him. You used to be Akuma!" Villetta sneered at Rai. "Is this some sort of test?" Rai shook his head once again.

"I'm not working for Lelouch. That's just my cover!" Rai said. Villetta obviously didn't believe him. "When Zero made his presence known in Area 11 the first time, my boss ordered me to come here and find out what I could about Zero. It's only when Lelouch discovered that I had found out he was Zero that he _forced_ me to work for him! My true employer ordered me to go along with it and gather as much data on Zero and the Black Knights as possible." Rai slowly reached up and pushed the gun away from his face. Villetta lowered the gun, and was frowning at Rai. "I know you don't want to be working for Lelouch, which is why I was told to invite you into our organization."

Villetta now scowled at Rai.

"Why would your boss want me? What use could I be to whatever group you're really a part of?" Villetta inquired.

"You're a very intelligent person, and a good Knightmare pilot-but the main reason is because you have a reason _not_ to be in this war. You have a reason to want it to end peacefully. The main goal of the organization I'm with is to bring a neutral peace to the world." Rai told her. Villetta made a scoffing noise. "I'm not saying that we'll succeed, or that everything will go as planned, but we want to at least _try_. All this pointless fighting is insane, why kill each other over what country anyone's a part of? In this day and age, we should be smarter than that, more civilized." Rai hesitated. "Also, I know that you don't want either side to win-because if the Black Knights or the Britannians win, then you and the man you love won't be able to be together."

Villetta gave Rai a rather scary glare.

"I'm not in love with anyone." Villetta growled. She turned away from Rai and went back to looking at the big computer screen. Rai shrugged.

"You did at one point, and those kinds of feelings for a person don't just vanish over night." Rai stated. Villetta didn't respond to that. Rai went back to the door. "You don't have to give us your answer yet, but my boss and I would appreciate it if you at least think about it. Oh, and if you don't mind, would you please erase this conservation from the memory of the security cameras in this room? My boss would be annoyed if Lelouch discovered I'm not really working for him."

"…I'll erase the footage from the cameras." Villetta replied. Rai nodded and left the room. He took the elevator back up and quickly made his way out of the school and back to the house.

_That's the best I can hope for, at least at this moment. Now I need to find a way to contact Nunnally. That won't be easy, considering security and other things. I can't let Lelouch find out when I do finally talk to Nunnally-he'll get suspicious…granted most things I do make him suspicious nowadays. Not to mention Suzaku. I'm shock he hasn't found it strange that I haven't asked about her-Wait. That's it! If I ask Suzaku about Nunnally, maybe he'll take me to her…either that or he'll take me to the Emperor to get my memory altered…Well, hopefully if I chose my words properly he won't do that. He might be a complete ass now, but he's still _Suzaku_…_ Rai frowned, feeling uncertain of it. He shook his head. _Why am I so worried? Underneath that now strict exterior is still the kind, gentle guy that he was when I first met him. He's just…disillusioned now, and I can't blame him for being that way considering everything he's been through. _Rai sighed. He massaged his collar bone, next to where his metal shoulder was connected to his flesh. _I'll see about that tomorrow._ Rai decided.

~Scott~

Scott, still disguised as 'Akuma' was in the submarine with the other Black Knights. The whole surprise attack from Suzaku had been…interesting, especially when one of the times the sub had shook, Scott was sent flying into Tamaki. After Zero had announced that he would participate in the new Special Zone, he had also ordered the Black Knights to do so as well.

At the moment, Scott and several others were meeting in one room, discussing Zero's decision.

"Join the Especially Administrated Zone, what is he thinking?" One guy wondered.

"Who knows?" A woman sighed.

"Ohgi," Tohdoh called for the attention of the man next to him. Ohgi looked at Tohdoh. "If Zero is making decisions that aren't in the interest of the Japanese people, then…" Tohdoh murmured.

"Are you meaning-?" Ohgi whispered back.

The door opened before Ohgi could continue. Zero entered the room.

"Hiya, boss!" Scott greeted cheerfully, earning annoyed looks from the others.

"Zero, listen-." Kallen started.

"Master Zero!" Lady Kaguya exclaimed happily. She ran up to Zero and jumped on the poor man, hugging him. "How could you keep your new wife waiting?" Lady Kaguya asked, pouting. Zero removed her from his person as Scott snickered at him. C.C. smacked Scott upside the head.

"Lady Kaguya, I'm glad to see you're well." Zero told her, not sounding fazed that a little girl had called herself his wife. "…And as lively as ever.

"And I see that you're still surprising everyone-like you always do!" Lady Kaguya said, smiling up at Zero. "Offering to join the Special Zone. No one expected that at all!"

"Yeah, she's right." Ohgi spoke up. "What was that all about any way?"

"I told ya, he's just bluffing so he can lure the Britannians and nail 'em!" Tamaki told everyone.

"Fighting, then more fighting, and _then_ what?" Zero asked them all. Everyone but Scott and C.C. gapped at Zero in shock.

"What?" Tamaki asked shrilly. "What are you saying? We should _dance_ with them?"

"I just imagined Kururugi dancing to a girly pop song." Scott informed everyone. The others wisely ignored him. Luckily for them, Scott didn't say out loud that he imagined Suzaku dancing in a _purple leotard_. Scott had difficultly not laughing out loud.

"We fight because we must-unless you know some other way to do this?" Ohgi said.

"No, we can never make friends with our conquerors." Tohdoh told Zero. "The Japanese people are fight for freedom-!"

"Tohdoh!" Zero cut Tohdoh off. "What _is_ Japanese?" Zero demanded.

Tohdoh didn't answer him.

_I'll have to tell the others that Tohdoh and his group probably wouldn't want to join us. Not unless we find a way to convince the Britannians to allow Japan to be its own country again._ Scott thought. _Also, the Black Knights as a whole are easily swayed. I'm not sure if we want people to join us who could be manipulated by just about anyone._

Scott noticed Kallen looking at him suspiciously, so Scott grinned and winked at her flirtatiously. Kallen grimaced in disgust and turned to talk to someone else.

"Akuma, I need to talk to you." Zero told Scott. Scott nodded with a smiled and merrily skipped as he followed Zero out of the room. They went to Zero's private room. After the door closed behind them, Zero took off his helmet. "Scott, have you had any contact with Rai lately?" Lelouch asked.

"I talked to him a little while ago, why?' Scott asked Lelouch.

"Did he tell you why two of the Avery triplets left school?" Lelouch wanted to know. "They said it was an emergency, but their story seemed…off."

"Why don't you ask Rai? He's been living in the same house as the triplets." Scott asked with a slight frown. Lelouch hesitated before giving Scott an annoyed look.

"That's none of your concern, I'm asking _you_." Lelouch snapped. Scott's face slid into a mischievous smirk.

"Awww~ You guys had a lovers' quarrel didn't you~" Scott couldn't help but tease. Lelouch momentarily looked at Scott like the latter had lost his mind.

"Rai is _not_ my lover!" Lelouch's voice went up several pitches. Lelouch's expression turned to borderline murderous and he went to open his mouth again, but Scott cut off what would most likely be a very long tirade.

"Alright, alright. Don't get your panties in a twist." Scott said, rolling his eyes. Lelouch looked as if he _really_ wanted to strangle Scott. "King had something he wanted Richard and James to do. No, I don't know what it is. If this is like any of the other times, they should be back at school in a month or two." Scott explained.

Lelouch looked as if he were thinking about what Scott had said.

"This is something that happens often?" Lelouch asked. Scott nodded. "Is the person you work for the triplets' brother Derrick?" Scott nodded to that as well. "Why is he alright with you pretending to be 'Akuma', or does he not know about it?"

"Derrick is well aware of what I'm doing." Scott told Lelouch. "He finds you to be intriguing. Also, Rai's very close to him-."

"What do you mean by that?" Lelouch interrupted Scott. The tone of his voice made Scott snicker.

"I mean that Derrick's…very attached to Rai, although Rai finds him to be annoying. Rai's constantly rejecting Derrick." Scott said. He couldn't help but notice Lelouch actually relaxed when he heard Rai didn't like Derrick "Oh my, if I didn't know any better, I would think you had-ah-_feelings_ for Rai." Scott taunted.

Lelouch glared at him.

"Stop saying such ridiculous things." Lelouch said. "I only deal with him because he knows that I am Zero."

Scott gave Lelouch a disbelieving look.

"Yeah, have fun kidding yourself. If you really didn't care, then you would have actually killed him by now. What's the point in keeping someone around that you don't care about in anyway, and who could be used against you?" Scott scoffed. "You killed your own _sibling_ for no real reason other than you thought he could_ potentially_ do something against you!" When Lelouch didn't reply, Scott shrugged. "Then again, you wouldn't have a chance anyway…" Scott said.

Lelouch looked at Scott, frowning.

"What are you talking about?" Lelouch asked. Scott smirked at him.

"Rai likes someone else~" Scott sang. Lelouch took a step towards Scott.

"Who is it?" Lelouch demanded. Scott took a deep breath before speaking.

"It's…None of your business~" Scott cackled. He danced out of the room before Lelouch could ask anything else.

~James~

James couldn't believe that he was actually sitting across from an _empress_! Granted, she was just a little girl, but still it was a great honor in James' opinion.

After entering the land of the Chinese Federation, James had simply wandered around. He hadn't been trying to find the Hidden City; he just sort of…stumbled upon it. The High Eunuchs were no happy to say the least. They even tried to execute James and say that he was a Euro Universe spy!

Luckily for James, the Empress had believed him when he said that he wasn't a spy. She had pretty much thrown a fit and the High Eunuchs decided it wasn't worth it to make their figure-head upset.

The Empress told James that he was now a guest, and that he could stay as long as he liked.

James, for some reason he wasn't sure of, was always well like by children. He didn't mind it, and Rai had once told him it was because of how impossible it was to upset James, and how James had an unlimited about of patience with people.

At the moment, the two of them were having tea and chatting. James had met Li Xingke…and was now terrified of the man. The man was similar to Edward, except had this aura that made it seem like he'd cut a person down for the little transgression.

The Empress insisted that James call her by her real name, which was Jiang. It was easier now to do as she requested, because Li Xingke wasn't there to glower at James in an extremely intimidating way.

"So you and your friends are trying to bring peace to the world? That sounds great!" Empress Tianzi cheered. She then gave James a very serious (and yet adorable) look. "If you and your friends need help, just ask okay? The Chinese Federation would be glad to help such a cause!" James looked at her in concern.

"Are you sure you're allowed to do that? Don't you have to ask the High Eunuchs before making a decision like that?" James asked. The Empress frowned.

"I can help a friend without having to ask them!" She said determinedly. It appeared that Lady Kaguya had rubbed off on the girl.

"Okay, just make sure that you don't get in trouble." James told her. Empress Tianzi smiled at him again.

"I'll be careful!" She promised. James was suddenly hit with a rather depressing thought.

"I wish my little sister was as friendly and gentle-hearted as you, Jiang." James sighed. Empress Tianzi gave James a worried look.

"What's your sister like?" She asked. James looked out at the garden, remembering all the times back home that Samantha would try to drown him in the pond in the Mansion's garden.

"Samantha's…not exactly the nicest person in the world. There's been a few times that her selfishness and mean-spiritedness has harmed and nearly killed the people around her. She's very used to getting her way, since she's the youngest and Father tends to spoil her quite a bit." James said, sighing again. "Even King is very lenient with her."

The Empress had a small sad expression on her face.

"She doesn't sound very nice." Empress Tianzi said. Then, her expression turned back to one of happiness. It appeared it was very difficult for her to be negative to too terribly long. "You know what? When I get married, I hope my husband's as nice and kind as you, James!" Her eyes suddenly widened as she thought of something. "Maybe I could marry _you_!" She exclaimed.

"Uh…" James wasn't sure how to tell her 'no' without hurting her feelings. "I'm far too old for you; you're only a little kid. Don't worry about marriage just yet, okay Jiang? You have plenty of time, and I'm sure that you'll find the right person for you when you're older." James told her. Empress Tianzi gave James a confused look.

"But the High Eunuchs have been talking about it. I overheard them saying something about an arranged marriage." Empress Tianzi said. This time James looked confused.

"Why would the High Eunuchs want a little girl to get married?" James muttered.

"I don't know, but I'm sure they're doing what they think is best for the country." The Empress said. James wasn't so sure.

_I'm going to have to get to the bottom of this. There's no way I'm just going to stand aside while an innocent child is used in such a way by the people who are supposed to have her best interests in mind. The arranged marriage is probably a political one. Shit, you'd think in this day and age this kind of thing wouldn't happen. _James thought, taking a sip of his now cold tea.

~Richard ~

The term 'mad glee' came into mind as Richard sprinted to another building. He dove inside and dialed a phone number on the disposable phone he was holding. The number he dialed set off a bomb he had placed nearly a half-mile away. Richard grinned wickedly as he heard the explosion and saw a cloud of smoke fill the air a good distance from him. He laughed, enjoying the adrenaline rush he always got from destroying things.

"You're completely nuts, you know that right?" One of the mercenaries told Richard, shouting over the noise. Richard shrugged, not bothering to deny the truth.

Richard had learned of a somewhat powerful group in the Euro Universe. So Richard did what he thought was best: Scare the crap out of locals by completely destroying said group without anyone actually knowing who was behind it. He had called McDonnell and his men, who agreed to help.

"You get _paid_ to do this kind of shit?" O' Riley laughed, obviously enjoying himself at the moment.

"I know, right? This is the best job ever!" Richard cheered as he set off an entire group of explosives.

"…I think I just saw a car get launched into the air…" McDonnell said uncertainly as he looked out into the distance. He shook his head. "Anyway, now that we've made them piss their pants it's time to make a few of them 'disappear' in the middle of the commotion." McDonnell reminded the others.

"Remember, don't let anyone see you." Richard said. The group split up into small teams and sent off to do some damage.


End file.
